Parallax
by darkwolffromhell
Summary: What will happen when two teenagers hop into the other dimension? How will they survive in this enviroment that they are not used to it...Please R&R
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: I do not own any horrible looking monsters or the job or the thing that was supposed be in the game. I only own the character and the storyline.

A teenager ran as quickly as he could and ignored the attentions from the pedestrians. The pedestrians were all looking at him as his jet black hair was dancing at the air. Sweats were flowing down as he ran towards his destination. He finally stopped in front of a double storey terrace house and caught his breath. He walked towards the door and pressed the doorbell.

"Coming!" It was all he could heard coming inside from the house. The door was being open and the owner of the house was standing in front of him.

"Oh, it's you. Zephyr! Come on in, I was going to call Michael."

"Thanks, Professor Dan." The teenager that being called as Zephyr by the Professor Dan was sitting on the couch, wiping away the sweat with his sleeves.

"Michael, Zephyr is here!" Professor Dan shouted before went down to the basement.

"Yes, dad!" The owner of the name slowly walked down the stairs and toward the living room.

"Hi, so what bring you here?" Michael smiled as he sat opposite of his childhood friend.

"I just getting bored and come to ask you whether you want to hang out with me or not."

"Oh, okay. Let's go inform my dad about this." Michael stood up with Zephyr walked behind him. Both of them walked towards Michael's dad laboratory which was located at the basement of the house.

'Hey, dad. I am going out with Zephyr." Michael stopped and looked in amusement at the unknown device that his dad was repairing.

"What's going on? Woah, Professor Dan; what the heck is that? It's awesome!" Zephyr literally jumped from the stairs and walked around the device.

"This is a kind of device that I invent to transport a person to an entirely new dimension."

"Cool, can I try?" Zephyr was begun to push a button but being stopped by Professor Dan. Michael quickly walked toward the device.

"Later I will be going to a meeting among the scientist in this country so I'm warning you guys, don't push any button or even touch this device. This device is in trial period and it is unstable. If you two do anything to this device, there might be something horrible happen to you two." Professor Dan wiped his hands and walked upstairs to get ready to go out. Michael and Zephyr nodded their head as they watched Professor Dan disappeared from their sight. They listened carefully as the door being closed which meant Professor Dan had went out to his meeting and by making sure of it with Michael went up and checked on it.

"So, your dad went out?" Zephyr asked and Michael nodded his head.

"So let's try this device!"

"W-wait! What are you doing? Dad told us not to touch this thing."

"But wouldn't you be curious about this device?" Zephyr looked at Michael.

" Dad told us not to use it."

"This is fun and curious. Let's just try it! You don't be a party pooper."

"But." Michael still tried to reason with Zephyr.

"Just come on!" Zephyr pulled Michael along.

"I d-don't really know about this."

"Michael, just do it."

"W-well, I guess its okay."

"So, lets us see. There are two helmet-like thingy so I guess we have to wear them. So here you go." Zephyr handed the thing to Michael.

"So after that there are two beds so it mean we need to lay down here. You use that bed and I at this one." Michael followed Zephyr's order as he knew there's no way to stop Zephyr now.

"So now I need to press this button." Zephyr pressed the button and quickly rushed to the bed. Suddenly, both of them felt an electric shock ran through their body and slowly they felt pain from their body.

"Z-zephyr, w-why i-is this h-happening?"

"I d-don't k-know."

"Argh!" Michael shouted in pain, followed by Zephyr but soon both of their vision turned from colorful to black. It's almost like a few years had passed when Michael woke up.

"Mmhmm, w-where am I ? O-oh, my head." Michael rubbed his temple as he saw Zephyr was lying beside him.

" Hey, wake up! Zephyr, wake up." Michael shook Zephyr as hard as he could

"Huh? W-what?" Zephyr slowly opened his eyes. He supported himself to sit up with his left hand and rub his eyes with his right.

"W-where are we?" Zephyr asked as he looked around his surroundings.

"How would I know? You are the one that get us into this mess!"

"I do not!"

"You do!"

"I do not!"

"You do!" The argument between Zephyr and Michael had attracted some of the monsters around them.

"You are making annoying noise!" Zephyr shouted back at Michael.

"No, I do not make any annoying noise!"

"Yes you do! There's the hissing sound now!" Michael was getting to scold back but as soon as he saw what was behind Zephyr, he just couldn't even say one word.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Z-ze-zephyr, b-behind y-y-you."

"What's behind me?" Zephyr turned back and his was shocked when he found a big spider with a big group of goblins had surrounded him and Michael.

"What should we do?"

"How the heck would I know?" Zephyr shot Michael an annoyed glare. . When the big spider gave a signal to the goblins by making that hissing noise again, the group of goblins readied themselves and rushed at the two foreigners, holding their weapons high above their heads. Michael and Zephyr shut their eyes tightly and hoped for the best.

A/N: Tada! My first Dragon Nest Fanfic! I am playing this game currently and found out that this game is interesting and make me want to write my own story based on this game. I hope it's nice and please R&R!


	2. The Other Dimension

"Nngh, where am I?" Michael opened his eyes and tried to adjust his eyes to the bright light.

"Oh, you are awake." Michael tried to sit up and looked for the source of the voice.

"Hey, you shouldn't sit up this suddenly." The source of the voice quickly walked over and helped Michael.

"Thanks." Michael looked up and found out the one who helped him was a girl, or more accurately, a teenage girl.

"Who are you?" Michael asked, not caring to mask his amazement at seeing such a pretty and well-developed woman being in his room. He needed to know her name.

"Oh, you can just call me Clarice." She gave Michael a smile that could melt a thousand men's hearts.

"I'm M-michael." He stuttered.

"Haha, your friend already told me this much."

"Oh, where is he?"

"He is in the dining hall with everyone else. They are quite curious about him since we have never seen humans wearing so lightly in the depths of Shadow Forest."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, humans do like to boast of their skills in metal-crafting. It just seems strange that both of you do not have half an inch of metal on you and yet you wished to beat Gobazaja."

"We are humans just like the ones you can see everywhere else..."

"I have never seen humans so brave or ignorant to be wearing such clothes - plain cloth and no armor. Then again, as an elf, there are many things about the human race that we have yet to understand." Michael looked dumbfounded.

"Well, see these pointy ears?" Michael could only stare as Clarice combed her hair back to expose ears so pretty yet so delicate that they looked as if they would fall off at the slightest touch. Having no response from Michael, she sighed and turned to walk out of the room.

"I will call your friend. I have already explained to him most of the things you two should know to stay alive in this world. So you should meet up with him soon." Michael nodded dreamily as he, again, ogled at Clarice's wavy hair that seemed to dance as she walked.

"Oh, you already awake!" Zephyr walked in.

"Stop shouting! My ears hurt." Michael shook his head slightly as he was brought back to reality.

"You should have seen how they fought the monsters. It was so awesome! Arrows were flying at the monsters so quickly my eyes couldn't catch up. They can also use magic. I mean, they just mumbled something and a huge lighting struck down and bam! All the monsters died. They are so cool! But all you did was faint."

"Stop. You mean I fainted just now?"

"Yup, you fainted because a rock hit you square in the head but thanks to them, we are saved."

"Okay. So, where are we?" asked Michael as he finally knew why his head hurt that badly.

"We are in another dimension."

"What?"

"We are _in_ another dimension. The device that your dad made is a success!"

"You mean we are not in our own world?" Zephyr nodded his head almost impatiently.

"So who are they?"

"They are the residents of this dimension, also known as elves, specifically light elves."

"Light elves?"

"From what they told me, elves are divided into two categories. The good elves are called light elves while the ones that turn bad are known as dark elves."

"Okay, so the light elves are the ones who saved us?"

"Yup."

"And the one who was in my room just now, she is also a light elf?"

"Oh, you mean Clarice. She is the leader of this clan. Hey, don't tell me you are interested in her?"

"Of course not!" Michael replied all too quickly.

"You better don't forget Jessy while you are in this dimension."

"I won't forget her. I just want to know the name of the person who saved us."

"Well, okay. By the way, you won't find any males around here besides us."

"Why do you say so?"

"Because all elves are females."

"Then how do they reproduce?"

"How the heck would I know?" Zephyr blushed furiously as he turned away.

" So, what are we going to do now?"

"I guess we can't go back any time soon. Clarice did mention that we should earn some skills to protect ourselves if we want to stay alive, since they cannot protect us all the time."

"Oh, so we need to learn from them."

"Yes, it kind of reminds me of the game we used to play - Dragons' Nest."

"Oh, I remember. You said you wanted to be a warrior because it seemed cool."

"Yes, and you were a cleric or something right? I guess we will have to see how much this dimension pertains to that game."

"Okay, I just need to change my clothes. By the way, what are you wearing?"

"You mean this? These are the clothes that the people here wear. Clarice told us to wear like this so the others wouldn't suspect that we are monsters."

"Alright, so I guess these are mine?" Zephyr nodded as Michael changed into the clothes that had been prepared.

"Let's go to the dining room." Both of them walked to the dining room where food had been served.

"Oh look, the other one has woke up." Michael saw a whole group of female elves sitting at the table, looking at him like he was a rare wild animal.

"Just get used to it. They have been asking me all sorts of questions before you came to. You sure are lucky." Zephyr whispered to Michael when both of them were walking to the table and sat at the empty seats that had been reserved for them.

"I represent the elves in our community to welcome you who do not belong to this world. This is a welcoming dinner to show how happy we are to see you and have you as our guests." Clarice stood up and shook hands with Zephyr and Michael.

"Well, we were saved from those monsters because of your help. Thank you." Michael replied politely.

"Yeah, thanks a lot!" Zephyr started eating his food without a care for his surroundings.

"You should say your thanks more properly." Michael sighed.

"I think Zephyr have told you about the basics you need to know about this dimension," asked Clarice.

"Yes."

"Am I right to say that you know that in order to survive in this world, you need to fight." Michael nodded grimly while Zephyr still was stuffing his face full of exotic food he never tasted before.

"So I take it that you two have already made your decision?"

"Yeff, wff doof." Zephyr looked it up from his food.

"Swallow your food before you talk. You are going to choke yourself again." Right after Michael finished his sentence, Zephyr choked himself

"W-water!" An elf quickly passed a glass of water to Zephyr. Zephyr snatched the glass of water and gulped down the whole glass.

"Phew, thanks for the help. You saved my life again!" Zephyr took a deep breath.

"I told you not to talk when you speak." Michael shook his head again, clearly not knowing how to deal with this stubborn friend of his.

"So, let's get back on topic. What have you decided?" asked Clarice, a little impatiently.

"We have decided to fight!" Zephyr said excitedly.

"Yes, but at the same time, we also wish to learn more about this world before setting out to find a way to get back home." Michael said, sighing at the childish acts of his best friend.

"Okay. So firstly this world we are in is called Lagendia, and the continent we are in is the land of Alteia. The three main towns here are the Prairie Village, where the strongest warriors are born; Mana Ridge, the biggest magic hotspot of this continent, also famous for giving birth to the some of the most well-known mages in history; and Calderock Village, the port town that brings adventurers to Saint Haven, where the young king resides. We are now in a forest close to Prairie Village. We elves prefer living in the woods because we are an ancient tribe whose roots grow deep into the soil and intertwine with the roots of the Tree of Life. We are well-known for sharpshooting because of our better developed instincts. Thus we can even bring down Cerbereus with only our bows and arrows. Hence we are very serious when it comes to crafting our bows and arrows, as our lives are always on the line when we use them. Humans in this world can either choose the path of a warrior or a mage, because strength can be obtained through excessive training and magic through meditation at hotspots. There are other classes like the blacksmith and engineer but we do not have much information about them. All we know is that they play an important role in crafting materials for the human race. Is this detail enough for you two?" Clarice drank some water after talking so much.

"Yes, thanks for the detail. We have learnt much. May I also ask if we could start training with your archers starting tomorrow?" Michael asked politely.

"Are you two sure?" Zephyr and Michael nodded their head firmly as the sign of they wouldn't regret or change their decision.

"We do not want to burden you any more than this and I would also like to travel the world of Lagendia and see how far I can go with my own strength." Michael said with confidence.

"Yes, I also want to do battle with lots of strong opponents. Plus, we still have to take revenge on the goblins that ambushed us!" Zephyr was very excited.

"That's good. When you have finished your training, we need to get you to Calderock Village. It is a place where many people gather so you may be able to get some answers there."

"How long will it take to go there?" Michael asked as he couldn't wait anymore to learn more about this world.

"It will take us about two weeks."

"What? That long?" Zephyr shouted, shocked.

"Of course it's long. They don't have cars, buses or airplanes in this world." Michael said it in a matter-o-fact tone.

"Yes, so how about you two go get some rest so you will have enough strength for tomorrow."

"Well, okay." Michael said with Zephyr nodded his head as agreement.

"Good. Melissa here will bring you to your rooms."

"Thank you." Michael said politely.

"Now let's us enjoy this meal. Tomorrow will be a hard and tired day for all of us." Clarice said and everyone began their meal. Later that night, Melissa led the way to their rooms.

"Hey, Melissa."

"Yes, Master Zephyr. How can I help you?"

"Oh come on, just call me Zephyr. I dislike all this formality. I just want to know what do Clarice plan for us tomorrow?"

"Sorry, Zephyr. I also don't know since Master Clarice never tells us the plans. Here is your room, Zephyr and Master Michael."

"Thanks a lot, Melissa." Both of them bided their farewell with Melissa and walked into the room. There were two single beds, facing each other.

"I guess we will be living here for now." Zephyr threw himself on the bed.

"I just wonder when we will go home." Michael sat down at the edge of the bed.

"Oh come on, we just need to suit ourselves in these world. I think we will have some awesome adventure lying upon us."

"Ya, I think we should sleep now. I think tomorrow going to be a very tiresome day." Michael sighed and started to close his eyes.

"Okay, good night Michael."

"Good night, Zephyr." Both of them soon drifted to dreamland.

A/N: That's all...Please R&R...*bowed*


	3. A Lesson Learned

The next morning, as the sun rose; an elf was running in the corridor. Although it was forbidden, she was in too much of a rush to care. The elf stopped abruptly in front of a door.

"Oh god, I'm in so much trouble." She mumbled as she tried to catch her breath and knocked on the door.

"Master Michael and Master Zephyr, it's time to wake up!" She opened the door and rushed in.

"J-just f-five more minutes." Zephyr turned to other side and snuggled himself so that he can continue to be in his dreamland.

"Master Zephyr, you must wake up now. You and Master Michael are late for training." The elf lady quickly walked over to Zephyr and pulled the blanket so hard, Zephyr rolled off the bed.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Zephyr sat up and rubbed the back of his head.

"Master Zephyr, you really should change this habit of yours."

"Oh come on, Melissa. You are treating me and Michael differently. You didn't shout at Michael and he is still sleeping." Zephyr began to complain.

"Master Michael, please wake up. You're almost late." Melissa blushed a little as she poked Michael on his cheek.

"Nghh, good morning Melissa. Hey Zep! What's up?" Michael sat up and looked around him.

"Master Michael and Master Zephyr, please get ready as soon as possible and go to the dining hall. Breakfast is ready." Melissa bowed and left the room.

"I still feel sleepy." Zephyr stretched himself and yawned.

"Just get ready. Training starts today." Michael walked towards the spigot and started to wash his face.

"Okay. Geez, why do you have to be so serious?' Zephyr also began to clean himself. He changed into the clothes that had been prepared too.

"Come on, we can't let them wait for us for too long."

"I am right behind you." Zephyr closed the door and both of them walked towards the dining room.

"Good morning, Clarice." Zephyr and Michael said together as they saw Clarice was sitting at the head of the table, waiting for them.

"Good morning. I hope you had a good night's rest. Are you ready for today?"

"Of course! We are so totally prepared!" Zephyr sat down.

"Let's eat." All of them ate their breakfast and gathered in front of a tent at the outskirts of their village.

"Janice, can you please come out for a while?" An elf walked out from the tent right after Clarice finished her sentence.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Master Clarice." The elf bowed.

"Janice, these are the ones that I mentioned to you yesterday."

"Hi, I'm Zephyr."

"Hello, I'm Michael, nice to meet you."

"Master Zephyr and Master Michael, how do you do," Janice bowed once again. Zephyr and Michael were fascinated by Janice's graceful movements.

"I have to say, do all elves look this pretty?" Zephyr whispered to Michael.

"You better stay focused." Michael just rolled his eyes at Zephyr.

"Zephyr and Michael, Janice will teach you the arts of archery since she is the best archer among us." Clarice said.

"You are exaggerating, Master Clarice."

"We will be in your care from now. We will do our best." Michael bowed and also forcing Zephyr to bow too by pressing Zephyr's head, as Zephyr was busy looking at other elves.

"I'll be happy to teach you. Please come in."

"I guess I will leave you two now." Clarice walked away just before Zephyr can protest.

"Master Zephyr and Master Michael, please have a seat. I will explain archery to you two."

"Yes, and please just call us by our names. We are in your care, so we should call you master instead." Michael said.

"Okay, so please listen carefully, Zephyr and Michael." Janice began to explain archery. Zephyr was yawning since he didn't have any interest in archery. Michael quickly hit him to ask him be serious about it. After quite some time, Janice drank a glass of water and continued, "so basically, the weapons we use are differentiated into the longbow, the short bow and the crossbow. With a longbow, you can shoot further but with less strength. Short bows deal more damage to the monsters but they are pretty inaccurate at long distances. Crossbows have just about the same range as a short bow but it can shoot multiple arrows at the same time, depending on the kind of crossbow you are using. However, it is relatively weaker than the short bow. All three kinds of bows have their pros and cons, it is up to the user to determine which bow best suit his or her fighting style."

"Any questions?"

"I got one! Where do we get our bows?" Zephyr asked excitedly.

"We need to go to find her to make the bow."

"Who is she?" Michael asked, confused.

"She is the bow-maker in our clan. Let's go now." Janice stood up with both boys walking behind her.

"Ruby, are you here?" Janice walked into the tent as she called out the name.

"Janice, it's rare for you to visit me. If it concerns the special request you made on your bow, I am in the process of refining it. There is a problem with the centre of mass of the bow."

"No, it's not. I need your help to make two bows for my students. You two, please come in."

"Yes, Master Janice." Michael and Zephyr walked into the tent and saw Ruby for the first time. She was very beautiful and they could not help but gasp.

"This is Ruby, our bow-maker. She will make you your bows."

"Thank you for your effort." Michael and Zephyr bowed to show their token of gratitude.

"It's alright. It's my pleasure to make bows for you two. Come with me please." Ruby turned away and walked to the other end of the tent. Michael and Zephyr looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders and followed her.

She brought them to a shooting range not too far from the tent. "Clarice told me that you have no experience whatsoever with bows, so I have laid out a few kinds of bows for you to choose. Try holding each of them in your hands and see which one you like."

Ruby taught Michael and Zephyr the basics of holding a bow and shooting arrows after seeing both of them struggling to brace the bows. They soon started to compete with one another to see who could actually land a shot on the target that was actually only 5 feet away. After about half an hour, Ruby brought them somewhere else.

They soon stopped in front of a huge tree.

"What is this?" Zephyr asked in amusement while lifting his head to see the tree.

"This is the tree where I produce bows and arrows. Please let me know what kind of bow do you want?"

"I want a crossbow. I like how accurate it gets in medium range combat." Zephyr said excitedly.

"I want a longbow. I rather shoot from a distance."

"Okay, please wait for a while." Ruby took a deep breath and began to sing. Her voice was wonderful. No, there's nothing that could be compared to her voice, not even the voice of an angel. She danced gracefully around the tree, singing something in a language that Zephyr and Michael didn't know. Her body started glowing and she touched Zephyr and Michael lightly on the forehead, causing an electric sensation to run down to their toes. As soon as she finished singing, a bright ray of light shone from the tree, which was so bright, Zephyr and Michael used their hands to cover their eyes.

"It's done." Ruby turned around and handed over two bows to Zephyr and Michael.

"Cool. Can you teach me how to do it?" Zephyr asked.

"Sorry, Master Zephyr. This is a skill only an elf could master."

"Aw man." Zephyr sighed as he examined the crossbow that he just got. It had some strange markings along the side, but touching them somehow made Zephyr feel stronger and more energetic.

"Okay, let's go practice now. Thanks a lot, Ruby." Janice walked out from the tent, with Zephyr and Michael who quickly said their thanks and followed behind Janice.

"Here is our practice range. You need to shoot those dummies. You can refill your arrows there."

"I understand." Zephyr and Michael nodded their head.

"Okay, so let's start." Michael and Zephyr stood their ground and prepared to shoot.

"Wrong! You should tighten your shoulder." Janice walked nearer to Michael and helped him to straighten and tighten his shoulders. The fragrance of Janice's body was making Michael's heart beat crazily.

"Understand?" Janice asked.

"H-huh? Yes, I understand. So it should be like this?" Michael showed it one more time and Janice nodded her head in approval.

"You two can shoot now. Aim at those dummies and pretend they are like monsters." Both of them nodded their heads and began to shoot.

"No! Why are you shooting at the ground?" Janice hit Zephyr's hand.

"Ouch. I just, maybe I don't aim perfectly." Zephyr smiled cheekily and said while rubbing the back of his neck with his other hand.

"Crossbows are different from longbows and short bows. You need to aim it like this." Janice helped Zephyr to adjust his position. Zephyr's face became bright red as he felt Janice's body touching his.

"Understand?"

"O-of course. Is this alright?" Janice nodded her head.

"Master, if we shoot like this, will the monsters die?" Michael asked which was replied by a hit from Janice at the back of his head.

"Of course the monsters will die."

"But wouldn't that be cruel?" Michael earned another hit again.

"If we don't kill the monsters, the monsters will kill us. Would you rather be a tasty meal for the monsters?"

"I understand." Michael stopped asking as he didn't want to be hit anymore. So, their training life began and every day they practiced shooting at the dummies. Evenings would be filled with learning about battle tactics and the history of Lagendia. After a whole week, Zephyr and Michael were starting to get the hang of archery.

"Hey Mich, how's your training going?" Zephyr asked as he sat on the window, looking at the sky.

"Well, it's just I couldn't strengthen and tighten my shoulder enough. It's harder than it seems"

"Well, my aim sucks."

"Haha, Master Janice said you are shooting ants instead of monsters."

"Huh? Well, Master Janice said your shot is as weak as yourself."

"It's true though." Michael shrugged his shoulders as he sat down on the chair.

"Hey, when do you think we can go home?"

"I don't know. Don't you think it's so much fun here, Michael?"

"I just think that maybe dad and mom are worried about me right now."

"Urgh, don't bother me with those questions. I'm an orphan so I don't have problems involving parents."

"Zephyr, I just… maybe I'm just homesick."

"As I expected of you. You just miss your dad, mom and of course, Jessy." Michael just nodded his head silently at Zephyr's statement, looking at the stars in the sky.

"Oh, just cut it out. We are here, in another dimension. If we can come here, surely we can go back too. So just cheer up." Zephyr began to cheer his friend.

"I know but when? I'm getting sick of this."

"I am also getting sick of this, especially archery."

"Not really, I find it quite interesting but it's just that we keep repeating the same thing."

"I'm bored." Zephyr sighed as he continued to look at the moon.

"But we still need to learn it so that we won't be a burden to Clarice and her friends."

"Ya, I guess we need to sleep now. It's getting late." Zephyr jumped down from the window and walked towards his bed.

"Good night, Zephyr."

"Good night, Michael." They snuggled into bed but they didn't know that their conversation had been heard by an elf, standing outside of their room.

"So that's what they think." The elf smirked and walked away.

The archery training continued for a few more weeks and by this time, they were already strong enough to best the goblins at the outskirts of Shadow Forest. Zephyr and Michael slowly felt more confident and took archery less seriously.

"Hey, you two." Zephyr and Michael turned around to see who was calling them just as they were returning from their training. They saw no one so they continued.

"Hey, I was calling to you two!" Zephyr and Michael turned around again but still didn't see anyone.

"I'm right here!" Zephyr and Michael turned around and looked down to see the source of the voice was an elf girl.

"Oh, little girl, where's your mother? Are you lost?" Zephyr patted the girl's head.

"Hey, I'm 16 years old." The elf hit Zephyr's hand.

"Ouch, I was just being nice. Besides, with this height, you surely are going to be thought of a 12 year old girl in our world." Zephyr laughed.

"Hey, I want to challenge you two."

"Huh? Haha, stop dreaming. It's still daytime." Zephyr laughed again.

"Little girl, it's not good to stay out late. Your parents will worry about you." Michael said with a gentle smile on his face.

"I already told you, I'm 16 years old. I'm serious about this duel. I want to have a duel with you two about archery."

"Haha, she is still going on with this joke." Zephyr continued to laugh.

" I'm not joking. Maybe you two are scared of losing to me? Haha, males losing to a female. That will be interesting."

"Who's scared?" Zephyr immediately stopped his laughter and looked at the elf seriously.

"You are, dummy."

"Hey little girl. You should be happy because I won't hit girls." Zephyr looked at the elf right in the eye. The elf quickly blushed and turned away from those jet black eyes of his.

"I am serious. How's about we have a duel to see whether I am right or wrong."

"Okay, you are so dead."

"Zephyr, we should think clearly."

"Nonsense. Michael, this little girl looked down at us. Do you want your dignity as a man to be stepped on by a little girl like her?"

"Hey, I'm not a little girl."

"Michael, if we didn't accept this, she will laugh at us forever."

"Okay, we will accept your duel." Michael said, after Zephyr finally convinced him about it.

"Hehe, see you tomorrow at 10 in the morning, at the training range." The elf girl smiled.

"Okay. By the way, what's your name?"

"Misty." The elf girl mumbled softly.

"What?" Zephyr put his ear close to the girl.

"I said Misty is my name!" The girl shouted.

"Misty? Hahaha, that's the name of the girl in Pokémon. Hahaha."

"Zephyr, stop it. You are making her cry."

"O-okay, I will stop. So, Misty, you better don't cry when you lose."

"W-we will see about that." The elf girl ran away.

"Did I do a good job?" Misty talked to a certain elf who was observing the whole situation.

"You did a great job. Now you just have to make them lose tomorrow." The mysterious elf patted Misty's head and walked away with a grin on her face.

The next day, everyone was gathered at the training range. They were getting ready to watch the duel between Zephyr and Michael with Misty. Zephyr and Michael walked in confidently with bows in hand. Janice was worried about them. Misty also walked in with a longbow.

"Oh, so the little girl didn't run away." Zephyr patted her head again.

"I'm not a little girl!"

"Whatever." Zephyr shrugged his shoulders and walked towards Michael and Janice.

"Are you two sure you want to do this?" Janice asked again.

"Yes, we are sure." Michael said confidently.

"Besides, she is just a little girl. There's nothing to be scared of. Let's go Michael." Zephyr and Michael walked away.

"But she is not any ordinary elf girl." Janice tried to say. Soon, the competition started. The rules were whoever gets closest to the bulls-eye wins. Everyone was given 5 arrows.

Zephyr aimed at the target and almost hit the bulls-eye with all three of his arrows. The other two went off course. He smirked at Misty and sauntered to Michael's side. Michael then got two bulls-eyes and 3 arrows very close to the red dot in the centre. Zephyr slapped his back and congratulated him. Both of them were smug and looked at Misty like two hungry wolves.

Misty did not even give them a glance. She took aim and shot, all 5 arrows hit the target, at the same spot. Michael's and Zehpyr's mouths fell wide open as they stared at Misty, who did not stop there and continued shooting 5 more arrows at Michael's dummy and another 5 at Zephyr's dummy. All of which hit bulls-eye.

"See that? That's the average skill of all the archers in this village. Do you think you can go out and proudly tell everyone in this world you learnt archery from us? Nobody is going to believe you." Misty said but it sounded like a well-rehearsed speech.

Both of them walked in a depressed mood to Janice.

"I thought she was just a little girl." Zephyr slumped to his seats.

"She is not any ordinary little girl." Janice finally spoke.

"Who is she?" Michael asked and also slumped to his seats.

"She is a genius in archery, She learned archery when she was 5."

"Oh my god." Zephyr only managed to say out three words.

"It seems like males really are weaker than females." Misty began to laugh. Zephyr and Michael lowered their heads.

"Haha, not responding? It seems like I was right." Misty continued to step on Zephyr's and Michael's dignity.

"Misty, I think you should stop." Janice tried to stop Misty from overdoing it.

"Why should I? This is the truth. They are the weak ones." Suddenly, in a flash, when no one even had time to notice what happen, Zephyr stood in front of Misty, looking at her with an expression that no one, even Michael had seen before. It was a very serious expression, with a tinge of frustration. Zephyr raised his hand and Misty quickly shut her eyes tightly, evidently scared.

"Bam!" Misty heard the noise of something crack but she didn't feel any pain on her face or any part of her body. She opened her eyes and found out Zephyr didn't hit her but hit the pillar beside her and the pillar crumpled into pieces.

"You are lucky that I hate to hit girls. I will train very hard and win you. You better watch out." Zephyr said this in an extremely low voice and turned away. No one knew what expression he had on his face because his bangs already covered his eyes, but Michael knew all too well what it was like.

"Master Janice, please give me extra training. I want become good at archery." Zephyr grunted.

"Me too. I also want become good at it too." Michael said, full of new found determination.

"Okay, let's start right after everyone else clears the range."

"Yes, Master Janice." Zephyr and Michael bowed.

"Maybe he is more suitable to be a warrior since he has great strength." The certain elf mumbled and walked away.

The training went on for a few more weeks. By then, they had almost reached Calderock Village. But their determination to learn archery made them not care about their surroundings.

"You two have learned and mastered the techniques that I taught you well, given the time you had to practice. You are now strong enough to travel the land on your own." Janice said as she was glad that Zephyr and Michael had improved quite a lot in archery.

"Thank you, it's all thanks to you." Michael said and smiled happily, knowing that he was finally able to master archery.

"Yes, thank you." Zephyr bowed. After that incident, the smile and cheerfulness appeared on his face once again, it's just like what happened that day didn't occur at all.

"I guess it's time for us to go to Calderock Village." Clarice spoke which gained attention from everyone in the tent.

"Okay, I guess it's time for us to explore more." Michael nodded his head.

"Yes, so when do we go to Calderock Village?" Zephyr asked.

"We'll reach there tomorrow first thing in the morning."

"Okay, I guess we need to go now." Michael stood up with Zephyr following behind. Both of them went to their own tents and began to pack their things.

"I can't believe we will be exploring the world." Zephyr said, excitingly.

"Can you just calm down? It also means we will be facing the enemy by ourselves."

"It's just so awesome. I can't wait for tomorrow." Zephyr threw himself on the bed.

"After all, we worked hard." Zephyr sighed.

"Yes, you are right. But let's sleep now."

"Okay." Soon, they two had the sweetest dream in their life.

The next morning, everyone was gathered in front of the tent, sending away their leaders and the male guests.

"I guess we need to go now." Zephyr said.

"You miss them?"

"You have to admit, Michael, everyone would miss a place full of beautiful girls."

"You are such a pervert."

"I'm not and let's go find Master Janice, Melissa and Misty."

"Okay." Michael and Zephyr soon found Janice.

"Master Janice, we are here to…" Janice hugged Zephyr tightly before he even finished his sentence.

"You two better behave yourselves and remember to train every day." Janice tried to sound like she was not crying but Zephyr noticed it.

"We will, Master Janice." Michael said politely. Zephyr didn't know what to do. He never had any experience with such beautiful girl hugging him. He gently put one of his hands on her head and stroked her hair.

"Master Janice."

"Call me Janice. I'm not your master anymore."

"Okay. Janice, we will definitely be serious about our training." Janice broke apart and hugged Michael too. Michael hugged her back.

"Janice, please don't cry. It's such a shame to see such a pretty girl crying." Zephyr said while Michael dabbed her tears for her.

"Janice, may we see each other again." Michael shook her hand as Zephyr waved his.

"Melissa, we found you." Zephyr said and ran towards Melissa.

"Master Michael, and also Master Zephyr."

"Aw, you crying too?" Zephyr wiped her tears.

"Thanks for these few weeks. We really appreciated your help."

"Ya, I mean it's not such an easy job to wake us up every day." Zephyr smiled nervously.

"Master Zephyr and Master Michael, you two better take care of yourself properly, must eat your meals and mustn't slack off."

"Yes, madam!" Zephyr and Michael saluted Melissa which made her smile.

"I think it's about time to go now. See you next time." Zephyr waved his hand and hugged Melissa.

"We will surely meet next time." Michael hugged Melissa too.

"I wonder where Misty could be, maybe she didn't come?"

"Aw, that's sad. I was hoping to say goodbye to her." Zephyr was a little sad.

"Oh wait, there she is! Behind the trees."

" Misty!" Zephyr shouted out to a certain elf but the elf didn't response.

"What's wrong with her?" Zephyr mumbled and ran toward her and caught her. Misty turned over and was crying.

"Why the heck are you crying?" Zephyr looked at her.

"T-there's no r-rule state t-that I c-cant cry without a reason. A-anyways, I'm not c-c-crying. There's s-something in my eye that I c-c-can't get out."

"Well, okay."

"Hi Misty. We need to thank you the other day. If it wasn't for you, we will still be overconfident and won't master archery so fast."

"If you really want to thank, don't thank me. Thank Master Clarice." Zephyr and Michael looked dumfounded.

"Zephyr, Michael, it's time to go!"

"Ah, Clarice is calling us. We need to go now. Bye. Hope that next time when I meet you, you will grow tall." Zephyr and Michael turned away and ran but before Zephyr managed to run, Misty pulled his hand.

'What's wrong?"

"Here! I made it for you!" Misty quickly hand over the thing in her hand and ran away.

"What the heck she is doing?" Zephyr mumbled and he looked at his hand. It was a necklace, with a four leaf clover as the pendant.

"How the heck did she do this?" Zephyr mumbled but still kept it into his clothes.

"Thanks Misty!" He shouted as loud as he could and lucky for him, Misty heard it. Her face blushed like crazy.

"Zephyr, let's go now!" Zephyr quickly ran towards Clarice and Michael.

"I guess we can go now." Clarice said.

"Yes!"

"Take care, Master Zephyr and Master Michael!" The elves shouted as Clarice, Michael and Zephyr left. Michael and Zephyr turned back and waved as hard as they could.

"I just hope that we can meet them again one day." Zephyr said and Michael nodded his head. Both of them looked at Clarice who was in her battle gear. She was walking in front of them.

"Wait for us, Clarice!" Zephyr ran with Michael followed behind, smiling. Their adventure starts now.

A/N: THAT'S ALL FOR NOW! XD…. So this is a new chapter for this story, specially thanks to my two friends who help me by giving me idea and help me edit the story..So please R&R….Reply for review…

**a)just-oneofthe-reader: **thanks for reviewing…and thanks for liking this story….hmm, good question…I not really sure cause this story had being edited by my friends and I think maybe because cleric is more focus on healing people and need to deal with a lot of element and since human don't have element aka superpower, so there don't have any cleric information. Well for mage, because mage is specialty in magic, mean if human know spell and can memorize it, then they can be mage.


	4. Calderock Village!

From a distance, three people: two boys and a girl were walking side by side in the forest. They seemed like seasoned adventurers, trudging their way through the rough undergrowth, stopping only occasionally to get some rest. However, it all seems strange. Something was just not right. Upon closer inspection…

"When will we reach Calderock Village?" Zephyr whined as he tried to put one foot in front of the other, burdened by his exhausted self.

"I think we are going to reach there this evening." Clarice, the only girl of the trio spoke as she walked in front of the two boys, leading them to their destination.

"Why does time move so slowly?" Zephyr looked up, hoping for an answer.

Several rays of light fell through the leafy canopy and a cool breeze gently brushed against their faces, relieving their fatigue for a moment.

"You won't be any help if you keep complaining." Michael sighed and leaned his back against a tree.

"I know but I'm tired and my feet hurt. We have been walking for four hours straight for god's sake." Zephyr squatted down.

"You heard what Clarice said just now, right? We will be in the village this evening. So just shut your mouth and walk." Michael sighed again. Zephyr pouted as he stood up and walked.

"You two, be quiet." Clarice began to crouch down and looked around her. Michael and Zephyr didn't dare to say a word or even took a deep breath. They looked at each other and their attention switched back to Clarice. Only the sound of their breathing could be heard over the rustling leaves.

"Mich, behind you!" Zephyr shouted as he pulled out his crossbow. Michael jumped as he turned around and gasped as he saw a giant flower, taller than him. The flower opened its mouth and its ugly face began to charge towards Michael.

"Mich, bend down now!" Michael quickly bent down as Zephyr shot the giant flower. The flower groaned in pain and Zephyr quickly shot a few more times as Michael ran towards Zephyr. The flower screamed in pain and fell down. Zephyr tried to catch his breath by taking deep breaths. He still couldn't believe what had happened and what he had done just now.

"What the heck was that?" Zephyr said after able to calm himself down.

"That is Sticky Thorn, a gigantic and extremely ugly flower that usually hides underground." Clarice said as she turned around. Michael walked near to take a closer look but the dead flower disappeared just like magic.

"Huh?" Michael stared at the spot where the flower was before it disappeared.

"All monsters are not real." Clarice spoke as she looked around, wary of the next attacks from the monsters.

"What do you mean?" Michael walked back to Zephyr as Zephyr looked at the bow.

"The monsters are not real like us. They are all made up by someone, or something to take control of this world."

"I don't understand." Zephyr rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's hard to say and I also didn't know much. We need to go to Saint Heaven and find him."

"Who is him that you mention?" Michael asked.

"You will know when you get there." Clarice began to tense up as she sensed something abnormal. Zephyr also sensed it too. He bent down and started to tense up too. Michael quickly readied himself with his bow.

"You two prepared yourself. Zephyr, I need you help me distracted the monster's attention. Michael, cover Zephyr's back, he is the kind of person who only knows how to dash to the front but never cares about his surroundings."

"Yes, I understand." Michael said while Zephyr replied with a nod.

"Roar!" A loud roar coming out from the north which made Zephyr and Michael looked towards the direction. A giant orc jumped and caused the earth to shake. Zephyr and Michael crouched down to prevent themselves from falling over.

"Let's go, Mich! Let's teach the orc why it shouldn't mess with us!" Zephyr jumped up and dashed toward the orc. The orc let out a loud roar again and dashed toward Zephyr with the giant hammer on its hand and used the shield to block the attack from Zephyr. Just as Zephyr was going to give the orc a hit on its head, other monsters were summoned by the orc's loud roar. A few groups of goblins, roughly about five or six in each magically appeared around Zephyr.

"Damn! I didn't see this coming!" Zephyr thought as he tried to avoid the attack from the blunt knife that the goblins are using.

"Zep, duck!"

"Duck?" Zephyr was confused momentarily as an arrow flew past him, right in front of his face and hit the goblin that was going to attack Zephyr behind. Zephyr was able to hear the sound of the arrow passing by and he was glad that his face wasn't hit by the arrow.

"I mean, avoid and start killing!" Michael shook his head and began to shoot the monsters.

"O-okay!" Zephyr shot as he ran towards a tree with goblins chasing him. He ran up the tree and jumped off midway, performing a perfect somersault as he quickly loaded his crossbow and shot all arrows at a wide angle, hitting all the goblins. "Gotcha!" He mumbled. The rebound from the attack carried Zephyr past the group of fallen goblins right next to Michael.

"Good job, Zep!" Michael said as he continued to shoot the goblins. The orc was angry when it saw its minions being fooled by two creatures that it had never seen before. It let out a loud roar and charged towards Zephyr.

"Zep, behind you!" Michael shouted as Zephyr turned around. Zephyr saw Clarice was standing at the tree branch, giving him a signal. Zephyr smiled and nodded his head.

"You stupid monsters come and get me! I bet you can't get me, because you all are stupid!" Zephyr shouted as loud as he can and he was able to get the attention of the orc and the remaining goblins. He ran towards a whole group of monsters like a madman. The orc and goblins also ran towards him.

"What the heck you are doing?" Michael shouted as he saw Zephyr's insane act. Zephyr just smirked as the monsters were nearer and he bent down. Zephyr jumped up suddenly and stepped on a few goblins' face and did a perfect back flip, landing beside Michael.

"Arrow rain!" Clarice shouted suddenly and jumped up into the sky, aiming the monsters and shooting. The monsters were being hit and collapsed to the ground. The orc managed to block the attack with it's shield but it was broken to pieces.

"Here I go!" Michael said and aimed right between the orc's eyes and shot. The orc gave a loud groan, fell onto ground and disappeared.

"That was close." Zephyr slumped onto the ground while Michael was trying to catch his breath.

"You two did a good job." Clarice climbed down from the tree and walked towards them.

"Well then, let's go." Zephyr stood up again, stretched and began to walk.

"Hey, you don't know the way here, so you should follow me." Clarice smiled as she quickly walked in front of Zephyr.

"Ya, sorry. Mich, lets go!" Zephyr turned back and smiled at Michael. Michael smiled back and stood up.

"Yeah, let's go and visit Calderock Village." Michael smiled and followed Zephyr and Clarice.

Three people: two boys and one girl, walking side by side in the forest, towards their destination. This time looking a lot more lively and more like adventurers.

The next few hours were peaceful and happy as Zephyr kept cracking up some jokes with Michael complaining and shaking his head. Clarice smiled while looking at them.

"Here we are, Calderock Village." Clarice said as three of them stopped in front of a huge gate.

"We are finally here!" Zephyr shouted in excitement and ran into the village.

"You idiot, don't make such a fuss." Michael said and shook his head, following behind Zephyr.

"You two, don't run away. I need bring you to see someone." Clarice said and the two boys looked at her.

"Lets go." Clarice walked with Zephyr and Michael walked behind them.

"Clarice, it's been a long time since last time you came to Calderock Village." A moderately tall human -with brown hair that was tied up into three braids, two at the side of her face the other at the back- was waving at Clarice. Clarice smiled and walked towards her while Zephyr kept looking for pretty girls and Michael was, again, shaking his head.

"Irine, how are you?" Clarice hugged Irine.

"I'm fine. What have you been doing? It's been two months since your last visit here."

"Well, you know, the usual. Staying outside and hunting monsters, observing how things are going on outside and such."

"Oh, so what brings you here?"

"Ah, do you know where master is?"

"She is at her house. By the way, who are these two guys?" Irine looked at Zephyr and Michael who were turning their heads in every direction, looking at the beautiful village, and especially at the two horses close by.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce you to them. Zephyr and Michael, this is Irine, my friend in Calderock Village. She knows everything around here so you can ask her if you have any questions."

"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Michael." Michael shook Irine's hand and smiled gently.

"Hey, I'm Zephyr. It's a pleasure to know such a pretty girl." Zephyr smiled at Irine energetically and shook her hand.

"Hi, I'm Irine. So what brings you here?"

"Well, you see. We are from mmphhhfff." Michael closed Zephyr's mouth abruptly by placing a hand on Zephyr's mouth. Zephyr smacked Michael's hand hard, begging for air.

"Zep wanted to say that we are from other place and we met Clarice on the way here. She told us that we can go to Saint Haven through here." Michael laughed nervously.

"Oh I see. Then Clarice is right. You can go to Saint Haven through Calderock Village but the airship is broken now and it needs time for fixing."

"Oh I see. " Michael nodded his head slightly. Suddenly he didn't feel Zephyr struggling anymore. He quickly looked down at Zephyr and found out he was lying there, unconsciously.

"Hey, Zep. Are you ok?" Michael looked at Zephyr with inquiring eyes. Zephyr still lay on the ground, unconscious.

Irine immediately took control over the situation and knelt down next to Zephyr. She took a deep breath and started to close the distance between hers and Zephyr's lips. Suddenly, Michael saw Zephyr's fingers twitching. It was a sign that he was enjoying something a lot. Michael sighed deeply as he quietly asked Irine to stop and brought a horse from the stable. The horse lowered its head and snorted in Zephyr's face.

"Woah! What the heck you are doing?" Zephyr opened his eyes immediately and jumped clear of the horse.

"Great, you're awake. Now let's not waste any more time and go see Clarice's master." Michael said while giving both Clarice and Irine a knowing smile.

Zephyr looked at Michael square in the eyes and was evidently unhappy that he was found out.

"What the heck is in your mind?" Michael hit Zephyr's head playfully.

"Ouch! Okay, okay, I'll be a little bit more serious."

"Oh well, Clarice, would you please show us the way?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, where is your master?" Zephyr walked while rubbing the bump on his head.

"Here we are. According to Irine, she is resting now. Let's go in." Clarice tidied up her clothes and hair to make sure she looked all okay to see her master. Michael and Zephyr also tidied up their clothes. Clarice took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Master, I'm Clarice. Can I come in?"

"Yes, you may." Clarice looked at Zephyr and Michael and three of them walked into the house. Zephyr and Michael gasped as they saw a beautiful elf with a long blonde hair and jade green eyes, drinking a cup of tea.

"Master, it's been a long time." Clarice bowed. Zephyr and Michael quickly bowed down although they didn't know what they were doing.

"Clarice, it's really been a long time. What brings you here?"

"Master, this is Zephyr and Michael. Zephyr, Michael, this is my master, Master Adelynn."

"Master Adelynn, it's nice to meet you." Michael bowed down and forced Zephyr to bow too since Zephyr was too amazed by Adelynn's beauty.

"It's nice to meet you two. Come and have a sit." Three of them quickly sat down.

"Master, we need some place to stay for awhile." Clarice asked as Michael and Zephyr nodded their heads in unison.

"Well, I can help you all find some place to stay. Clarice will be staying with me. Zephyr and Michael, I will inform Deckard to see if there's a place for both of you to stay."

"Okay, thanks a lot." Zephyr smiled at Adelynn which caused Adelynn to blush with a sad expression on her face.

"Master, are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Clarice. I just remembered him." Adelynn smiled bitterly. Zephyr and Michael looked at each other; both of them looked at Adelynn with sympathy although they didn't know what had happened and who 'him' was.

"It's late now. I'm going out to inform Deckard about this and buy some ingredients for dinner. Do you all want to stay for dinner?"

"Of course! It's our pleasure to stay for the dinner." Zephyr said excitedly which caused Adelynn to remember a certain person once again.

"Okay, please wait for me for awhile." Adelynn smiled sadly and walked out from the house.

"Clarice, I have a question." Zephyr said as he confirmed that Adelynn was out of earshot.

"What is it?"

"Why are Adelynn's ears are more pointy than yours? She seems to be the same age as you."

"You are wrong. She is older than she looks. "Clarice took a sip from her cup.

"No way!"

"Yes. She is older than she looks although I'm not so sure about her exact age and about the pointy ears of hers, I have no idea."

"Oh, I see. She sure does look young." Zephyr said and drank the tea.

"I wonder how our life will be here. By the way, Clarice, why aren't you sleeping at the same place with us?" Michael asked and Michael's question startled Clarice.

"W-well, I- I just want to have a deeper bond with master since it has been a long time to meet with her." Clarice said nervously.

"Ya, besides, what are you trying to do with her if she is sleeping at the same place with us? You already have Jessy." Zephyr grinned and looked at Michael.

"Shut up." Michael hit Zephyr's head hard.

"I was just kidding. You no need act so harsh on me. I thought we were best friends." Zephyr said, looking at Michael with a pitiful look on his face.

"Drop your act. Your act is useless against me." Michael sighed.

"Geez, you are so cold hearted." Zephyr pouted. Michael sighed and three of them continued to talk while waiting for Adelynn to come back.

"Smells yummy!" Zephyr said while sniffing.

"Where're your manners?" Michael was trying to make sure Zephyr didn't run and hug Adelynn.

"Food's ready." Adelynn said while Clarice helped her to bring out the food.

"Woah, it not only smells delicious and it looks delicious too."

"Please eat now. An adventurer needs energy to continue his adventure." Adelynn smiled. Zephyr and Michael started to eat and suddenly Clarice was able to see a bright, happy aura forming around them.

"This is delicious!" Michael said and smiled happily.

"This is the tastiest food that I ever eat in 18 years of my life." Zephyr continued to eat. Michael only nodded his head.

"Master, did you add anything weird in it?" Clarice asked suspiciously.

"Why should I?" Adelynn smiled and started to eat her food.

"No, it's nothing." Clarice also started to eat her food.

"By the way, Deckard said its okay for you two to stay at the adventurers' dorm since they have some empty rooms."

"Thanks, Adelynn."

"Thanks for everything." Zephyr and Michael smiled brightly. No one except Clarice noticed that Adelynn was staring at Zephyr all the time.

"Maybe Zephyr just resembled him." Clarice thought as she continued to eat her food in silent although Zephyr and Michael kept making weird noises.

"Thanks for the food and everything. I believe we need to find Deckard now." Michael bowed.

"Yup, thanks! We will be seeing you tomorrow." Zephyr smiled.

"Okay, I will be expecting your arrival tomorrow. Please have a good night sleep." Adelynn smiled warmly as Zephyr and Michael walked away.

"Master, tomorrow, can I avoid meeting them?"

"Of course you can, Clarice." Adelynn smiled gently.

"So here is your room. We will be giving you some missions." Deckard said as he led Zephyr and Michael to their room.

"What? You mean this is not for free." Zephyr whined.

"Of course. We don't have enough people to help us on the missions that had been given by the people. So you two will be helping out too."

"Okay, I understand." Michael nodded his head.

"That's good. So now I will leave you two be. Good night and have a sweet dream." Deckard laughed while walked away.

"Oh man, I didn't think that we had to work."

"Zep, this might be our chance to find our way to go back."

"Ya, I know. Let's go to our room."

"We sleep in separate rooms." Michael said matter-o-factly.

"I know. Well, they said we sleep in separate rooms but our rooms are just beside each other." Zephyr shrugged his shoulders and walked into his room.

"Good night, Mich. We need plenty of energy to welcome tomorrow." Zephyr smiled brightly and walked into the room

"Good night, Zep." Michael sighed but still smiling while walking into the room. For the next few days, nothing special happened. Zephyr and Michael still didn't get any missions so they visited Adelynn and Clarice a lot, but somehow they felt something suspicious.

'Hey, Mich. Don't you think Clarice is acting weird?"

"Well, now you mention it, yes, I do. By the way, this is a nice place. How do you find it?" Zephyr and Michael were now lying on a grass plain.

"I just accidentally found it. Clarice seems to avoid us all the time."

"Yea, I wonder why."

"Oh my, aren't these Zephyr and Michael?"

"Adelynn!" Zephyr and Michael shouted out at the same time. Adelynn sat down on the grass while Zephyr and Michael sat up too.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We were just thinking and slacking." Michael said.

"Oh, what were you thinking?"

"Well, Adelynn. We have one question to ask you."

"Zep, you shouldn't ask to her."

"Mich, she is the one closest to Clarice and this is our only way to find out what we had done to cause Clarice avoiding us all of a sudden."

"Well, okay. If this is what you want, then go ahead and ask."

"What are you going to ask me?" Adelynn asked confused, looking at the two boys with her head slightly tilted to one side.

"Oh my god, she is really cute! I can't believe she is older than us." Zephyr thought but soon he realized he was embarrassing himself in front of her.

"Well, Adelynn. We want to know why Clarice is avoiding us? If we did anything wrong, please tell us so that we can apologize to her." Zephyr asked. Adelynn giggled right after she heard Zephyr's question.

"Why are you giggling?" Michael asked.

"It's not what you two did. It's just one of her habits."

"Habit?" Michael asked while Zephyr was looking at Adelynn, still being amazed by how cute Adelynn was when she giggled.

"Yes, she doesn't really know about the human race, at least she has never met one before. Suddenly you two appeared right in front of her so she was kind of scared of you two."

"I don't understand, she seemed okay when we're on our way here." Zephyr asked, recalling back what happened last time.

"That's because she was forcing herself to be strong since she doesn't want you two to laugh at her."

"Oh I see. Thanks Adelynn."

"You two are welcome. I better get going now. Please don't tell Clarice that I told you this." Adelynn walked away with a gentle smile that can melt a guy's heart for hundred million times.

"I think we need to find Clarice to make sure about this."

"Wait, Mich. I had a better idea." Zephyr began to smiled, but in an evil way.

"Oh boy, Zep is going to come up with some 'good' ideas of his. I hope you will survive from all these and I'm sorry for not being able to stop him, Clarice." Michael thought and sighed.


	5. Clarice's phobia

"Hey, Zep..."

"What? Hey, don't tell me you are going to chicken out?"

"No, but why are we doing this?"

"Huh? What do you mean 'why'? We are making sure that what Adelynn told us was true." Zephyr looked around him to make sure his victim didn't wasn't close by.

"Are you sure this is Clarice's room?" Michael asked again.

"Yup, I asked Adelynn just now." Michael hit Zephyr's head gently.

"Oww! What did you do that for?" Zephyr pouted again.

"How can you ask Adelynn? She might burst out our plan." Michael sighed and shook his head.

"Oh, relax. Adelynn said she would play along. By the way, your excitement is leaking through your weak acting." Zephyr smirked and raised one of his eyebrows.

"N-nonsense! I was just tried to sound like I'm excited so that you won't call me a party pooper."

"Yea, yea, whatever you say." Zephyr waved his hand and looked back toward his victim's room, ignoring Michael's explanation.

"Eh, don't ignore m-" Zephyr quickly covered Michael's mouth before Michael finished his sentence.

"Hey, you better stop complaining or shouting if you don't want we been spotted by Clarice." Zephyr whispered in a low and serious tone. Michael just nodded his head. Zephyr sighed and let go of Michael's mouth. He stared at his hand with disgust and wiped it on Michael's shirt.

"What are you doing?"

"Wiping my hand on your shirt." Zephyr said, matter-o-factly.

"May I ask why are you doing this, Mr. Zephyr?"

"Because I have your saliva on my hand so, I need to return it to you. I can't just put it back into your mouth because I will get more on my hand, so I choose to wipe it on your shirt."

"Oh god." Michael was shaking his head not even trying to speak any sense into his childhood friend.

"Hey, Mich, stop babbling. Coast is clear, and Adelynn said Clarice will be back in any minute. So let's go."

"Hey, at least listen to what I have to say."

"Just come with me." Zephyrs sighed and quickly walked toward Clarice's room and open the door stealthily. Michael rolled his eyes at him as Zephyr kept making weird hand signs, signaling Michael to come over. Michael sighed and quickly walked over.

"So this is what a girl's room looks like." Zephyr said and looked around.

"It's just normal." Michael sighed as he quickly closed the door.

"Hey, I'm going to hide here."

"Are you seriously going to hide in the closet?"

"Of course, it's the best way to surprise her." Zephyr said as he made some room for himself in the closet. Michael rolled his eyes and quickly hid under the bed.

"Mich, you better hide yourself nicely. I can hear footsteps and I bet that's Clarice." Zephyr quickly hid himself in the closet while Michael sighed and tried to get himself under the bed. The sounds of the footsteps were getting louder and louder as the owner was getting closer to the room. Zephyr's and Michael's heartbeat were also getting stronger.

"Will Zep's plan be a success?" Michael began to question himself. He tried to make some space for himself under the bed.

"This is so uncomfortable. I wish this will end soon." Michael mumbled. He tried to adjust himself so that he felt more comfortable. On the other hand, Zephyr was holding his breath as he heard the footsteps.

"I can't wait to see Clarice's reaction." Zephyr was holding himself back so that he wouldn't giggle.

Then came the sound of the door being pushed open.

"Oh yes, Clarice is here!" Zephyr thought, excited.

"Oh boy, I hope everything will be okay." Michael began to pray that Clarice wouldn't find him under her bed.

"It's been a busy day. I'm glad I managed to avoid meeting them." Clarice stretched and flipped onto her bed.

"Why is the bed was so uncomfortable today?" Clarice quickly gave up trying to readjust herself into a more comfortable position and stood up.

"Hmm, well what shall I wear today?" Clarice wondered out aloud as she started moving towards her closet. Zephyr's heart started pounding harder and harder with anticipation as the sounds of footsteps got closer.

"SURPRISE!" Zephyr shouted at the top of his lungs when Clarice opened the closet. The next few moments happened too quickly to be put into words.

Clarice was evidently shocked when Zephyr shouted and closed the doors too hard. They hit Zephyr right in the face and also bent his nose a little. Michael, who heard the sound of doors being slammed quickly crawled out under the bed just as Clarice turned her back against the closet. Michael looked like some monster from a horror movie due to his tousled hair filled with cobwebs from under the bed. Clarice, unable to bear it any longer let out an unnaturally loud scream. Several elves who were close by rushed to the scene only to see Clarice single-handedly holding both Zephyr and Michael out of the window, threatening to drop them.

"What were you doing in my room?(!)" Clarice was clearly very mad.

"B-because I heard that you scared of humans. So I decide to play a prank on you." Zephyr stuttered.

"Clarice, calm down." Adelynn appeared out of nowhere just in time to stop Clarice from dropping Zephyr.

"How did you know about it?" Clarice asked, uncomfortably, as she put them back in the room, her immense display of strength seemed to have disappeared along with her anger, to be replaced by fear and confusion.

"Well, I er, sort of, heard it when I was lazing around." Zephyr was trying his best not to look Clarice in the eye.

"Clarice, just calm down. We want to help you." Michael, also appearing out of nowhere, stood between Zephyr and Clarice.

"Help? Why do you two even want to help?" Clarice's anger had changed to irritation as she looked at Zephyr and Michael.

"Because we are friends. You helped us when we were in danger, took us in and taught us how to survive here. We really think you as our friend, just like Misty, Melissa, Adelynn, Janice and the others. We can't stand it when a friend of ours is avoiding us." Zephyr said it with a determined but sad tone.

"I just don't want to cause problems to you all." Clarice began to feel uneasy and guilty as she fidgeted.

"We think of you as our friend and we want to help you as best we can." Zephyr said as he tried to get up from the bed.

"It's none of your business!" Clarice shouted as she ran out from the room.

"Hey,Clarice!" Zephyr quickly got up from the bed and ran to catch Clarice.

"Hey, you are just recovering from your injury, idiot!" Michael trying to run but Adelynn was pulling him back. She gently shook her head. Michael stared at Adelynn for a moment and sighed.

"I hope Zephyr will be able to help Clarice." Michael sighed.

Clarice ran and ran, without a care of where she was headed. She stopped when she ran out of breath. Looking around her, she was shocked to see that nothing familiar. She couldn't even trace her steps as she was already quite deep in the forest. Suddenly, the bushed behind her rustled and a huge minotaur came out. Instinctively, Clarice reached for her bow only to find that it wasn't there.

"Oh no! I left it at master's place!" Clarice tried to remain calm. The minotaur, sensing Clarice's fear, was slowly advancing.

"Roar!" The minotaur started charging at Clarice. She tumbled to the side and started running for her life, hoping that she might be able to lose the monster in the forest.

Suddenly, she tripped and fell on the damp forest floor. Clarice turned back and the minotaur was towering above her, about to strike with its axe. They say when it's your time to die, time starts to move slowly and you will see your past flash by. Clarice thought of her friends back in her village and wished that she could see them for one last time. However, what she saw was a man who gallantly dashed in front of her and sliced the monster with a sword. He was like a knight in shining armor as he leaped up high into the air and came crashing down on the minotaur, dealing one blow after another until the minotaur fell and disappeared.

"…" Clarice's mind stopped working as she tried to put her feelings into words. What she saw was the silhouette of a strong man holding out his hand to pick her up. Her trembling hands and feet didn't matter anymore. In that one second, all she could hear was her thumping heart. Her female senses were tingling all over as she allowed herself to be lifted off the ground and fell right into the arms of her savior, inhaling the strong scent of the opposite sex.

"Clarice, I'm here. Don't be scared." Zephyr sounded unusually calm. His voice was setting off fireworks in Clarice's head. She didn't want him to let go.

"Don't worry, we will get out of here in no time." Zephyr continued, caressing the back of her head, holding her close to stop her from trembling any more.

"Ngh..." Was all Clarice could say. Zephyr only smiled as he gently lifted Clarice and brought her back.

"Hey, Clarice," Zephyr started, "Can you not run away like this again? It's going to cause us all a lot of worry." Clarice looked at him, taking in every word he was saying.

"Well, you know, it's not like we really want to force you to tell us why you hate humans. If you feel uncomfortable and don't want to speak about it, we promise not to talk about it again. It's just… please, don't run away like this." Zephyr said as they neared their residence. He let Clarice down and they started walking towards it. Clarice wan unusually bubbly and kept giggling.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because you look so funny." Clarice giggled.

"Haha, glad that you are happy now." Zephyr laughed.

"Well, if it's you... Promise not to tell anyone?"

"…."Zephyr nodded grimly.

"Well, you see. The reason I'm afraid of humans is because I don't trust them since they betrayed me before. I helped a travelling party and they betrayed me in the end. They thought I was a member of the dark elves and planned to kill me. After that, I never trusted humans again, until today. That's why I was so scared about you two, afraid of being betrayed a second time." The smile on Clarice's face disappeared and was replaced by fear. Suddenly, Clarice felt Zephyr's arms around her and she instantly felt relieved of the burdens. She daintily held onto Zephyr's warm hands and smiled.

"I didn't know you had such a sad past and I'm terribly sorry to play a prank like this. I hope that you will forgive me and I can assure you that Mich and I will never betray you because you are very precious to us." Zephyr said it in a low and caring voice. Clarice smiled and let go of the hug. She skipped a few steps and looked back at Zephyr.

"Now I know that I can trust you two. So, please take care of me!" Clarice gave her best smile ever to Zephyr and at that moment, Zephyr could not help but smile along. He caught up to Clarice and both of them went back to village happily and safely.

"Oh my, Clarice! You made me worry so much!" Adelynn hugged Clarice as soon as she saw that Clarice and Zephyr were back.

"Sorry, master." Clarice hugged back.

"You deserve a punishment." Adelynn said in a very serious manner.

"Wait, it's my fault for make her angry. So just punish me instead." Zephyr tried to save Clarice from the punishment.

"No, you two deserve a punishment!"

"So, what will we get as a punishment?" Clarice asked, both looking at Adelynn.

"Your punishment is, you two need to complete a mission together. There's a mission from the guild master just now." Michael said as he walked out from the kitchen.

"Michael, I told you to let me finish the sentence. Now you had ruined all the fun." Adelynn pouted.

Michael just shrugged and said "I think they have gone through enough today."

Adelynn sighed.

"Master, do you mean I need to be in the same group as Zephyr?" Clarice looked at Adelynn, seeking for an answer.

"Yes, I think that is how it is." Adelynn said, smiling.

Zephyr and Clarice looked at each other, a mixture of emotions flowed between them as they beamed at each other.


	6. The Chosen Path

"Ngh.." Michael was just sleeping soundly but suddenly he heard a soft knock coming from nowhere. He sat up with those sleepy eyes of his, gently rubbing his eyes as he trying to find the source of the knock. He stared at the window, as to confirm that the source of knocking sound was coming from there. He wearily pushed away the covers and opened the window, looking outside the window and found no one.

"Who's there?" He asked, but didn't get any respond. He shrugged his shoulders and wanted to close the window and returned to his sleep. As he turned away, there was a slight gust of wind blew through the window that he closed just now, listing him up out of the window. He was panic, didn't know what had happened but yet he couldn't do anything as he scared that he might fall.

"Fear not, young one. I'm here to guide you to your rightful path as i heard of your predicament." As the wind carried Michael over long mountain range, rivers, seas, he felt that there was a soft blue glow surrounded him. The nervousness and fear in his heart was gone as if the blue glow and the gentle voice had chased them away.

Finally, they settled down in a camp full of young and cheerful boys; each of them dancing around poles that are releasing a wave of refreshing aura. Michael only stared at those young boys, as he didn't know why they were dancing. Those young boys felt Michael's presence; they ran to him and hugged him tightly, as if they had met a long lost friend. Michael was shocked by the sudden welcome but he soon accepted it.

"What do you want?" Michael asked, as those young boys were pulling his both hands. Those young kids were staring at him, as they were begging him to come with them. Michael only sighed and followed them. What appeared in front of Michael had made Michael speechless. A giant orb that was releasing a soft blue glow was floating on the air. Strangely enough, it calmed Michael down and Michael felt his body moving on its own towards the blue light.

This sensation was so comforting that Michael wanted to be as close to the blue orb as possible.

"No, Mich, no. Who knows what will happen when you touch this orb?" a small voice started to say in Michael's head but he pushed it away because every other part of his body and soul wanted the blue orb. Michael closed his eyes as he reached out to touch the orb. Out of the blue, a bright light engulfed everything and he was woke up is his own bed again.

"Where's the mountain? The sea? The river? The orb?" He looked around himself and soon realized it was a dream. He decided to wash himself and welcomed this whole new day of his.

"Zep, wake up!" Michael was shaking Zephyr as hard as he could, just to wake that lazy friend of his.

"Just five more minutes." Zephyr ignored Michael and turned to the other side, facing the wall instead of Michael.

"Just wake up, you lazy boy. Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?" Zephyr forced himself to open his eyes and looked at Michael.

"Oh boy, you really did forget. Today is the day you and Clarice are going on a mission, together! Now just wake up." Michael pulled Zephyr as hard as he could until Zephyr rolled off the bed.

"Oh yea, now I remember." Zephyr quickly stood up and smoothened out the creases in his clothes. Michael sighed and waited for his friend on the front door of the dorm.

"Let's go!" Zephyr walked past Michael happily but he suddenly felt a force pulling his shirt.

"Where do you think you are going?"

Zephyr was struggling to get some air while Michael was still pulling Zephyr's shirt, without noticing Zephyr's face which was starting to become a bluish color.

"M-mich, c-can't b-breathe."

"Oh, sorry!" Michael quickly let go of Zephyr. Zephyr crouched down and tried to catch his breath.

"Mich, you sure did become stronger after all those training." Zephyr took a few deep breaths.

"Did I? I'm sure glad to hear it."

"So, let's get back to just now. Why are you pulling me?" Zephyr looked at Michael, tapping one of his feet impatiently.

"Well, because you are going too far away."

"Why am I going too far away? I thought today it's the day that Clarice and I had our first mission."

"That's because they are going to meet us here."

"They?" Zephyr looked confused, scratching the back of his head, thinking what Michael meant by 'they'.

"Urgh, you forgot. Never mind, I will tell you, again. Clarice, Adelynn and Deckard. Deckard is going to give you the mission here, do you remember now?"

"Ah, I remember now. Sorry, I just forgot."

"Yeah, like you always do."

"Hey." Before Zephyr was able to protest about his forgetfulness, he heard a sweet voice calling for them.

"Hi, Michael and Zephyr." Adelynn said as she walked with Clarice toward the two guys.

"Hope we didn't let you two wait for too long." Adelynn apologized politely.

'Of course not, Adelynn. Being able to wait for two cute and pretty girls is my honor."

"Oh my, Zephyr, stop with this flattery." Adelynn said. Michael thought he noticed Clarice blush out of the corner of his eye but it was gone in a second.

"Ah, so everyone is here." Deckard's loud and firm voice entered the room just as Michael was about to ask Zephyr what had happened between him and Clarice.

"Yes, Deckard. I believe you can give these children their mission."

"Oh yes, Adelynn. Of course I will give them their mission. So, Zephyr and Clarice, this mission is kind of tough. So we need you two to work together."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can you just spill it out what our mission…Ouch!" Zephyr glared at Michael that had just stepped on his right foot.

"I'm sorry, Deckard. Zephyr is a bit, impatient. Please forgive him." Michael apologized and glared back at Zephyr, whispered, "Mind your manners, Zep. You don't want us to be chased out from the dorm, do you?"

"Hmmph!" Zephyr looked away.

"It's okay. I know how young adventurers feel when they receive their first mission: eager to finish it, eager to help poor villagers. Zephyr reminds me of myself when I was young. I was also quite the impatient boy." Deckard started to wander back to his past.

"Excuse me, Master Deckard. But can you continue debriefing us on our mission?" Clarice quickly pulled Deckard back to reality.

"Oh yes. So there were several complaints about the disturbance of dark elves from the villagers who live at the northern part of the village and a few of them got hurt. There's been a rumor that these dark elves were being controlled by someone else. I want you two to investigate it. If you need more information, you can go find Scholar Bailey and Cleric Germaine. They seem know something about this." Deckard said as he put a tick on his list of available missions.

'Okay, I think we understand now."

"Good luck, young adventurers! You two will need plenty of it! Hahahaha!" Deckard's laughter faded away as he walked further.

"Alright, I think we can leave the rest to you two. Please do take care of yourselves." Adelynn said in a worried tone.

"Of course we will. We will be back before you know it." Zephyr grinned confidently.

"Of course, master. We will definitely come back safely."

"Adelynn, let's believe in them. I have some questions in mind that I wish to clarify. Zep, you better come back alive. You still owe me money."

"Hey, Mich. I thought that doesn't count." However, Michael already had his back to them and was waving his hand as he walked away with Adelynn.

"So now, let's decide our plan." Zephyr said in a serious tone.

"Okay, so according to Master Deckard, Scholar Bailey and Cleric Germaine knows something about the disturbance."

"Yup, so we need to split up. I will go find Cleric Germaine, and you go find Scholar Bailey. We will meet up at Corin's place to repair our weapons and formulate a plan."

"Okay." Clarice nodded and parted ways with Zephyr.

Zephyr was trying to squeeze through the crowd on the bridge since there was a sale at merchant May's place so every adventurer was heading to there for cheap accessories and potions.

"Sorry, excuse me." was all Zephyr said while he struggled to escape from the crowd. He tried to be polite although he was cursing all those people in his heart.

"Finally, now where's Cleric Germaine?" Zephyr straightened his body in order to look for Germaine.

"Aha. There he is." Zephyr spotted Germaine, being surrounded by a whole group of young, aspiring clerics.

"Oh boy, after I free myself away from those adventurers, now I need to get through those clerics. Oh god, why are you playing with me?" Zephyr sighed. He still struggled throughout the crowd of clerics, all seeking advice from Germaine on healing and holy magic. Zephyr can only heard the voice from Germaine, saying "Just listen to your heart. The Goddess of Altea will guide you."

"There must be an easier way to get closer to him." Zephyr thought as he slowly inched his way towards the source of voice. It felt like Germaine's voice had some kind of power, pulling and attracting Zephyr or anyone towards him and calming them at the same time.

"Maybe that's why the clerics are all seeking advice from him." Zephyr mumbled but he stopped as he bumped into someone.

'May I help you, little lamb that is lost from the guidance of the Goddess?"

"Cleric Germaine..." Zephyr quickly stood up, his hands fumbling in his pockets to find the letter that had Deckard's approval of him taking on the mission.

"Yes, may I offer my help?" He smiled gently.

"Oh sure. Here it is." Zephyr showed Germaine the letter. As Germaine quickly scanned through the letter, the expression on his changed a little.

"So that's why." Germaine said with a slightly colder but gentle voice of his.

"Yes, so I want to gather more information on the disturbance. I hope you will lend a hand."

"Of course I will. It is the arrangement of the Goddess that we two could meet with each other and discuss this problem that we both share." Germaine nodded as he returned the letter to Zephyr.

"So, what do you think of the disturbance of dark elves? Do you really think someone controlling them?"

"Mister Zephyr, please be patient. Let's go somewhere more private to discuss these matters." Germaine said as he cleared the crowd and motioned Zephyr to follow him into a secluded area behind a few buildings. "I think that the disturbance of dark elves is being controlled by someone."

"Who do you think is the dark elves?"

"I don't know. But I suspect the Dragon Followers."

"The what?"

"The Dragon Followers they are an organization that swore to follow the misguided teachings of the Black Dragon and wants to revive it."

"Revive? Black dragon? I don't understand anything about it."

"You will understand later." Germaine sighed as he holds onto the pendant that was hanging around his neck.

"So you suspect it's the followers of this group that are causing this mess?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"Okay, so what made you think that the dark elves were being controlled?"

"A splendid question indeed. The villagers told me as I healed them that they heard a sweet sounding music and after that the dark elves began to attack them."

"Oh, so it means that the dark elves only attack people after hearing that sweet music." Zephyr nodded as he jotted down all this important information in his mind.

"I think that's enough for now. Thank you, Cleric Germaine for your help. I think I better go now." Zephyr bowed and walked away.

"It's okay. I will do anything to help you."

Zephyr accidentally touched Germaine's pendant as he went past Germaine. Suddenly, Cleric Germaine gripped firmly on to Zephyr's shoulders as he said, "You are the Destined One, you will lead a life of hardships and there will be a time in the near future where you will have to make an important decision." Zephyr heard it and quickly turned back to see a strange glow emanating from both the pendant and Germaine's eyes that was already starting to subside.

"The Destined One?" Zephyr was confused. He stared at Germaine for a while and decided to let it slide as he had more important matters at hand.

On the other hand, Clarice was having better luck than Zephyr. She didn't need to struggle through crowds or wait for Scholar Bailey to finish teaching adventurers about the importance of heraldry.

"Scholar Bailey, may I ask you a few questions?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was too interested in this book to see you there, now is there anything I can help you with?"

"Thank you very much. It's about the disturbance of dark elves."

"Oh, so you are the one being assigned for this mission."

"Yes, and also my friend."

"Oh, so what do you wish to know?"

"I heard that you think the dark elves are being controlled by someone. Why do you think so?"

"Dark elves wouldn't simply attack humans; at least not because the humans were wandering around their territory. Besides, villagers that were attacked and hurt were wandering outside of the dark elves' territory. Let me show you." Bailey too out a map from one of his books and showed it to Clarice.

"The one that circle in blue is human's territory, where the villages or towns are. The one that circle in red was the territory of monsters. "

"It's impossible for the dark elves to attack them at these locations." Clarice pointed towards spots on the map that were drawn with several black X's.

"Yes, there's the place where the dark elves attack humans."

"But there's still some possibility that the humans angered the dark elves."

"No, I had did some research on dark elves and I realized that the dark elves normally lives on green plains, or temples that are not being used. So it means dark elves popularity might be at around these few areas." Bailey drew it out in black pen.

"But that means." Clarice gasped.

"Yes, the black circle and red circle don't even collide with each other. Besides, the attacks from dark elves happen in the forests, and none of these can be related to each other unless you factor in outside forces."

"So there's only one conclusion. The dark elves are being controlled by someone."

"You are right." Bailey kept his map and looked at Clarice.

"So who do you think might be responsible for this?"

"The Black Knight."

"Black knight?"

"Yes, he is a legendary criminal. It is said that no adventurers can defeat him."

"Oh, thank you for your time." Clarice thanked Bailey after asking a few more questions and walked towards Corin's workplace.

"Hi, Clarice. What can I do for you today?"

"Oh, I want you to help me repair my equipment."

"All of them?"

"Yup. How much will it cost?"

"Let me see, since you are such a pretty lady, I will give you a discount, 50 silvers."

"Okay." Clarice gave Corin the money and the equipment, and sat down to wait for Zephyr.

"Clarice!" Clarice looked up to find the source of the voice, all she saw was a hand waving in the air.

"Could that be Zephyr?" Clarice mumbled, and after a while she saw her answer. Zephyr was struggling through the crowd and walked toward her.

"You look exhausted." Clarice said as she signaled Zephyr to rest beside her.

"Ya, squeezing through the crowd for three times will do this to you. It's tiring." Zephyr suddenly remembered something and quickly walked towards Corin. Clarice giggled at Zephyr as Zephyr looked like he was being cheated by Corin.

"So, sent your weapon to repair?"

"Ya, Corin charged me 60silvers." Clarice giggled again.

"So now let's exchange the information." Clarice quickly changed the topic when she sensed Zephyr going to ask her a question.

"Okay." Zephyr nodded and so both of them exchange the information that they had obtained.

"So we now have two main suspects, one is the Dragon Followers and one is the Black Knight." Clarice wrote it down.

"So we need to investigate more." Zephyr said and Clarice nodded.

"But how?" Clarice began to think.

"Let's go fight and see."

"Huh?"

"We might find some evidence that can show us who is the real culprit behind this."

"I think that is the only way now."

"Zephyr, Clarice, your weapon is ready now. "

"Thanks Corin." Clarice and Zephyr said together.

"So, let's go?"

"Yeah." Zephyr said and both of them walked away from the village.

"It's weird." Clarice said.

"What is weird?"

"The surroundings. I know we are in human's territory but doesn't it seem weird that the fog is getting thicker and our surroundings are too quiet." Clarice said as she looked around her.

"Now you mention it, it does seem weird." Zephyr crouched down. Suddenly both of them heard a sweet music, coming from nowhere.

"It's bad. Zephyr, ready your bow." Zephyr only nodded as he took out his bow. Suddenly, the fog began to disappear and Zephyr felt a sharp pain in his back before he fell down.

"Zephyr, stand up quickly!" Clarice shouted to Zephyr, who was still lying on the ground. She had sensed this coming but she never knew they, the dark elves were targeting Zephyr. She calmed herself down and began to aim for the dark elves but she knew very well, as an elf, that elves had good flexibility and strength, especially dark elves because of the dark elves first leader, Völundr was very particular about flexibility and strength of the elves. Clarice knew it well, she knew that she might not be able to hit the dark elves, but even the slightest distraction that she could cause, might be able to save Zephyr.

"If an elf, especially a dark elf hits you and will never let you fall on the ground, you will only end up being hit until death by the elf if you didn't stand up in time." Clarice remembered about it, about her master's advice.

"Zephyr, stand up now!" Clarice shot another arrow. She missed but it managed to distract the dark elves. Zephyr tried his best to stand up but the pain in his stomach and chest was unbearable.

"Zephyr, stand up!" Zephyr looked towards the source of voice, and saw that the dark elves were chasing Clarice.

"Damn it! You elves, come and get me!" Zephyr shouted and stood up, trying to aim for the dark elves. For a human that never really get to know all about elves, dark elf and light elf look just the same. That's the case for Zephyr, he couldn't decide who to shot and who not to shot because he couldn't differentiate who is Clarice and who is the dark elf because they were standing quite far from him. He tried to run toward Clarice, so he could help her but every time he moved, the pain from his stomach and chest were spreading across his body, as if the pain were going to tear his body into pieces. He slumped down.

"Why am I so useless?"Zephyr scolded himself. Clarice saw it, she wanted to encourage Zephyr but she also had to concentrate on avoiding the attacks from the dark elves.

"Zephyr, don't give up!" Clarice shouted and Zephyr suddenly woke up from the despair.

"I MUST HELP CLARICE!" Zephyr shouted and stood up, began to run toward Clarice, no matter how the unbearable the pain was. There's only one thing in his mind, saving Clarice. Zephyr took his bow, and began to aim.

"Clarice, I can't differentiate you and the dark elves."

"Just shoot! I believe in you!" Zephyr nodded as he concentrated on his bow. He couldn't care much, he must save Clarice now.

"God, please don't be Clarice." Zephyr mumbled and he shot the arrow. The arrow was speeding towards the elves. Clarice saw it and successfully avoided.

"Argh!" A loud scream come from the dark elf that had been shot. Zephyr and Clarice saw one of the dark elves fell and disappear. The other dark elves were staring at Zephyr. Wanting revenge, they charged towards Zephyr. Zephyr was just standing there, he couldn't move even an inch. He was exhausted, and fell down on the ground.

"Zephyr, run!" Clarice shouted.

"It's okay now, Clarice. You can run. I was no good. I am not as smart as you, nor am I as disciplined as Mich. I'm just worthless." Zephyr mumbled, waiting for the death to arrive upon his head.

"Haha, so this is the strength of a mere adventurer? I'm sorry to say, but you are not even qualified to become an adventurer."

"Who is that? I will show you true strength of mine." Zephyr shouted as loud as he can. He stood up abruptly, one hand clenching to the crossbow of his, one hand clenching to his stomach.

"Now, young adventurer, show me what you have."

"You betcha!" Zephyr stood up, focusing on the dark elves, closed his eyes. Suddenly time moved slowly around him.

"Gotcha!" Zephyr mumbled as he opened his eyes.

"Swift shot!" Zephyr shouted as he began to shoot. The only thing that can be heard by Clarice is the scream of the dark elves. The dark elves fall down one by one on the ground and disappear. Clarice saw Zephyr standing at there, looking at her.

"Zephyr, you did it!" Clarice was running toward Zephyr. She saw Zephyr was smiling and soon turned to horrified.

"Clarice, duck!" This is the last word that heard from Zephyr by Clarice. Suddenly, Clarice felt a force pulling her upward.

"Hahaha, if you want your friend back, come and get us." The harpy was laughing and her laugh was hurting Zephyr's ear.

"You!" Zephyr began to run toward Clarice, adrenaline rushing through his veins; the pain in his body long forgotten.

"Haha, a mere human wants to defeat the mighty harpy? Take this!" The harpy flapped her wing as hard as she could, and in seconds, a tornado had appeared. Zephyr didn't know what was happening and he failed to run away, so he was pulled in by the tornado and thrown up high into the air. Those winds in were as sharp as a blade, he felt like there were hundreds of blades cutting through his skin. After a while, the tornado disappeared and he landed harshly on to the ground. He felt a sharp pain coming from every part of his body but he didn't have time to care about this. The harpy was still flying from him, carrying Clarice with her.

"Clarice, hang in there!"

"Zephyr!" Clarice can only reply Zephyr by calling out his name. Although the harpy was clutching to her shoulder, but she didn't feel any pain or see any blood.

"Urgh!" Zephyr aimed at the harpy, trying to shoot.

"Not so fast, young adventurer!" Suddenly a man was standing in front of him, stopping him from shooting.

"Why are you stopping me? And who the heck are you?" Zephyr was nearly insane when he saw a man stopping him to save Clarice.

"I'm Chandler. I was observing you just now."

"So you are the one that provoke me by saying I'm not suited to be an adventurer!" Zephyr shouted again.

"Yes, but you had proven to me that you are an adventurer. Here, take this." Chandler gave Zephyr a sword.

'What is this?"

"A sword. You can't just shoot your friend out from the sky, she will die."

"Then how am I going to save her with something that can't even hit long range?"

"I saw your speed, and you are incredibly fast."

"So what?"

"You can hit the harpy down and make sure your friend is safe on the ground."

"Oh, you don't say." Zephyr rolled his eyes on Chandler.

"Boy, try to remember the harpy's attack just now and relate it to the sword." As Chandler told Zephyr, he also mumbled a few sacred phrases and touched Zephyr's forehead. Zephyr felt a warm feeling going through his whole body and he immediately felt energized.

"Okay." Zephyr closed his eyes.

"The harpy flapped her wings very quickly to create tornadoes. Using that idea, if I can generate enough speed I should also be able to create one. I can create my own tornado and control it. I can make sure the tornado won't hurt Clarice and use that tornado to attack the harpy." Zephyr mumbled.

"Good, seems that you know your plan. Now focus your thought on the sword and your energy." Zephyr nodded.

"Focus, Zep, focus!" Zephyr focused by closing his eyes. Suddenly he opened his eyes, aiming at the harpy.

"Hiyaaaaa!" Zephyr shouted and swung his sword with all his might. He managed to create a few sonic waves that charged toward the harpy, but missed.

Zephyr immediately focused again and swung his sword at a different angle. This time, a tornado appeared.

"W-what? How can this be happening?" Harpy quickly let go of Clarice.

"Ahh!" Clarice shouted as she fell down. She quickly closed her eyes as she mentally prepared for the pain.

"Huh?" Clarice opened her eyes, saw that she was floating on the sky and being brought down to ground by the tornado gently.

"Clarice! Are you alright?" Zephyr ran toward Clarice and held her shoulder tightly.

"I'm alright." Clarice reassured Zephyr that she was safe and was not harmed at all.

"How is a mere human able to copy my skill that easily? Hah! But it's time for me to go now!" The harpy began to fly away.

"Are you sure?" Zephyr grinned.

"Of course I am sure." Harpy snorted.

"I'm not so sure about it. You hurt Clarice and you are going to pay for this by hurting my friend. Moonlight Splitter! Cyclone Slash!" Zephyr shouted again, and this time the tornado was bigger than the previous one and was imbued with the sonic waves that made it look fatal. The tornado moved in high speed toward the harpy.

"Arrgh!" The harpy let out a sharp and painful scream before disappeared in front of the three mere human that she despised. Suddenly, Zephyr's eyes widened. He saw someone very familiar standing on the cliff, looking at him, smiling, and mumbling some words. Lucky for him, he was able to interpret it. The man was saying, "Good job, The Destined One. We shall meet again when your powers grow stronger." When Zephyr blinked his eyes, the man that he saw was gone.

"Zephyr, are you alright?" Clarice asked as she saw Zephyr slumped on the ground.

"Heh, of course I'm alright!" Zephyr smiled but winced as he felt a sharp pain coming from all over his body, his vision already starting to fade.

"I better bring you two back to the village. You two did a good job."

"Who are you?"

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself to you, young elf. I'm Chandler."

"Are you the master warrior, The Legendary One-Eyed Chandler?"

"It seems that you are quite knowledgeable in this. Yes, I am."

"Oh my, why are you doing here?"

"I heard from Deckard that there was a boy who had it in him to be a warrior because of his attitude. So I tagged along."

"Hmmph!"

"Zephyr, mind your manners."

"It's alright. At first I thought Deckard was fooling me, but seeing such a young man who is able to stay true to his goals even when people insulted him, impressed me very much. I am sure that he has the warrior's blood flowing in him." Chandler pointed toward Zephyr.

"Oh, why do you say so?"

"Because his subconscious mind already decided that day by choosing a sword over a bow."

"Huh?"

"You will know later. Let's go?"

"Of course."

"So you mean, I can be a warrior?"

"Yes, I, no, we need people like you to be a warrior. Believe me, you are going to be a legendary warrior."

"Well, I accept your offer. I'm going to be a warrior."

"That's good to hear." Chandler smiled as he sent Clarice and Zephyr back to the village.

"Oh my, Zephyr. What happened to you?" Adelynn was shocked when she saw Zephyr.

"I will go ask Germaine for help." Chandler walked out from the house.

"Clarice, go report our findings to Deckard."

"Okay. Please take care." Clarice walked out from the house.

"Adelynn, Germaine and his apprentice are here."

"Thanks, Chandler."

"So, Zephyr, stay still. Michael, observe it and practice." Germaine instructed.

"Mich? Why are you here? Are you Germaine's apprentice?"

"Yes, Zep. I decide to be a cleric and follow the guidance of the goddess Altea."

"Zephyr, please stay still." Germaine said firmly.

"Okay, sorry Germaine." Zephyr lay back down. After eating the herbs that were given by Germaine, Zephyr felt much better. Soon after Zephyr sat up and looked at Michael in all seriousness.

"What?"

"You have something to explain to me, and it is a question that only you can answer."


	7. Tough Training

"Hmm?" Michael raised one of his eyebrows and looked at Zephyr, who was trying his best to push himself up.

"Don't you 'hmm' me, Mr. Michael. Explain." Zephyr managed to sit up with one hand clutching the wound near his stomach.

"I don't think I have anything to explain since it's a done deed." Michael still looked at Zephyr with those eyes of his, eyes that did not give away anything.

"Mich, we are friends." Zephyr tried to stand up but soon gave up because sharp pains were coming from every part of his body.

"So?" Michael sat down on a chair, facing Zephyr. Zephyr's shoulder slumped down but soon he grabbed Michael's shoulder as hard as he can.

"So, friends never keep secret from friends."

"It doesn't make sense." Michael tilted his head, feigning innocence.

"It makes sense. One never keeps secret from his/her friends."

"But everyone has their own secret." Michael still stubbornly ran away from the question.

"You know what? I give up." Zephyr just looked at Michael, one hand scratching the back of his neck.

"Why don't you tell me why you want to become a warrior?"

"Why should I tell you?" Zephyr pouted and shifted his gaze away from Michael.

"After you told me about the reason you become a warrior, I will tell you mine." Michael's word had caused Zephyr's eyes to sparkle.

"Really?" Michael nodded his head slightly.

"Well, as you can see, I'm badly injured.

"You don't say." Michael just sighed.

"Hey, listen. Well, I would be dead if that guy had not saved me just now." Zephyr pointed toward Chandler, who was happily chatting with Adelynn.

"So?"

"Just let me finish the sentence. So, he looked at me and said I am a fine piece of material to be a warrior and he said that I had potential in me."

"Oh I see. So you are now Chandler's apprentice because he praised you?" Michael sighed again. Zephyr nodded his head in all seriousness.

"But you know, these injuries don't recover as quickly as I want them to," Zephyr finished his sentence and was staring expectantly at Michael.

"Huh? What do you want?"

"Your story."

"What story?"

"Why you choose to be a cleric?"

"Oh that." Michael closed his eyes and lowered down his head. "Well…"

"So, what are you waiting for? Just blurt it all out." Zephyr's eyes sparkled like a little boy who wanted to hear stories from an elder.

"You see..." Michael was just about to start his story, but then someone called for him.

"Michael, can you help that poor boy over there?" Another cleric, a bit older than Michael with white hair was smiling gently at Zephyr as he said that.

"Of course, Terry." Michael quickly stood up and walked toward the cleric.

"Hey, Mich. The story."

"I'm busy now. I will tell you when I'm free." Michael said as he walked towards Terry.

"Well, I guess I will go back to the dorm and rest." Zephyr shrugged his shoulders and tried his best to stand up.

"Zephyr, let me help you." Clarice saw it and quickly ran over to help him.

"Oh, thanks a lot." Zephyr leaned against Clarice as Clarice put one of his hands over her shoulder. They both walked slowly and none of them said anything.

"This is so awkward." Zephyr thought as both of them walked to the dorm.

"I should say something." Clarice thought but nothing came out as she open her mouth. She quickly shook her head as she scolded herself for not able to say anything.

"Well, you see." Zephyr and Clarice spoke at the same time as they looked at each other awkwardly.

"Well, you first." Zephyr smiled at Clarice.

"No, you first." Clarice quickly shook her head.

"Ladies first."

"Why don't you go first? Men are always very hot-blooded and like taking the lead."

"Ladies first." Zephyr pouted.

"Men first." Both of them stared at each other and soon burst into laughter.

"I guess we both have the same intention." Zephyr smiled with Clarice who was nodding her head.

"Zephyr, are you really going to train under Chandler?"

"Yup. I want to be a warrior that everyone will remember forever!"

"But I heard that Chandler is quite strict with his lessons and training."

"Oh, erm… I know that!"

"No, you didn't know." Clarice thought as she noticed the slight pause of Zephyr.

"I had prepared well to accept the challenge!"

"Okay, if you say so."

"Clarice, I can walk by myself now. We're almost there." Clarice slowly let go of Zephyr as he tried to stand steadily and walk.

"Zephyr, are you sure you are okay?"

"Of course I am." Zephyr turned around and looked at Clarice with that bright smile on his face.

"Just you wait, Clarice. I will definitely be the strongest warrior that saves everyone when they are in danger and my name will be remembered forever!"

The golden sun shone upon the Calderock Village, and as Zephyr looked at Clarice with that confident smile of his, a ray of golden light was shining upon him, as if he really will become a famous warrior in the future and at that moment, Clarice chose to believe it.

"But before you become the strongest and famous warrior, you will need to train hard."

"Aww, do you have to spoil the mood?" Zephyr pouted and stared at Clarice. She smiled gently and walked toward Zephyr. The smile soon found its place on Zephyr's lips. Both of them continued to walk silently side by side, hand in hand. They can hear the voices of the children having fun racing back and forth but at the moment, both were happy to be alive as they continued on, hearts beating in synchrony.

"I guess I will see you tomorrow." Clarice only nodded.

"You better not slack during the training."

"Hey, Clarice, that's kind of rude."

"Well, it's the truth and truth can sometimes be unbearable."

"You are right. I will train very hard after I recover. "

"Huh? Recover?"

"Yeah, the clerics just said I need to rest for three to four days."

"Oh, okay... Rest well."

"Sure. You better go back now. I bet Adelynn is worried about you."

"You are right. So, bye. See you tomorrow."

"Sure thing!" Zephyr closed the door as he saw Clarice's figure disappear down the long corridor. What he did not know, was that Clarice did turn back and look at him as he closed the door, with a hand on her chest as if to reduce the strange feeling of pain felt inside her heart. She knew perfectly what did this meant but then, she chose to ignore this signal of her body. Little did she knew, that they were going to be separated very soon. In Zephyr's case, he just lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling lifelessly.

"Hng." Zephyr sneered as he still can felt a hint of pain in his chest. He knew all too well what's cause the pain, he sat up, got down from bed, walked towards window and stared at the sky.

"You know perfectly I can't, at least not in this world. Why you didn't give me a chance when I was back in my own world? Why now?" Zephyr vehemently threw his thoughts at the sky. He squat down and curled up into a ball, grumbling in silence.

"I have to be tough! A warrior can't be down because of this matter. I choose this path and so I will be able to overcome it!" Zephyr stood up and marched back to his bed and soon drifted to dreamland.

Zephyr was doing fine during his recovery as he was being unexpectedly good and didn't cause any trouble for anyone. Michael was curious and suspected Zephyr was having a fever for several times but yet no sign of fever was shown in Zephyr. Michael only shrugged his shoulders and decided to let this slide since he felt Zephyr not causing trouble once in a while was a good thing.

"Master Chandler, I'm here!" Zephyr reported his arrival to Chandler when he had finally recovered. Chandler smiled broadly.

"Hi there, young warrior."

"Yes, master. So what are we going to do first?"

"Hmm, a good question. Here, follow me. You guys, continue with the swinging!" Chandler gave order to the warriors-in-training. Zephyr grimaced as he felt the gruesome and repetitive training Chandler had his men undergo. Looking at them, his arms were already feeling numb.

"What are you looking at?" Chandler's voice pulled Zephyr back to reality.

"Yes, I'm coming." Zephyr shook his head and followed behind Chandler. He walked into a room, filled with swords, axes and hammers.

"What are these?" Zephyr looked around the room, amazed.

"These are weapons that a warrior used. I heard from Adelynn that you used a crossbow as your weapon. But since you are going to be a warrior, you will need to choose from one from these." Chandler waved his hands over the different kinds of weapons.

"Okay, now, choose your weapon!" Chandler said.

"What?! You mean, you are not going to explain?"

"Bah! Who needs explaining when you can experience them?!"

"But how would I know which weapon suits me?"

"Just take all these three and swing each of them 200 times per day then you will know which weapon suits you."

"You are kidding, right? There's no way you can know which weapon suit you by just doing that."

"Of course you can. Being a warrior means you won't need to rely on books like the sorceresses, or a firm sense of justice like the clerics, or pinpoint accuracy like the archers. A warrior depends on experience. If a warrior has experience, anything can become a weapon for a warrior." Chandler laughed.

"You gotta be kidding me."

"I'm not kidding. Just go swing."

"Huh?"

"I mean go do the swings now. If have any complaints, I will increase the number of swings per day to 300."

"What? I thought you said 200?

"Are you listening to me? Do you want to do 400?"

"Okay okay! I'm on my way! Just leave it at 200 a day." Zephyr sighed and quickly joined the other warriors.

"Aww, man. This is tiring." Zephyr said as he sat on his bed, massaging his right arm.

"Just get used to it. No one told you that training was going to be fun."

"But, 200 swings per day, Mich! 200 swings!"

"You need to sacrifice something if you want to achieve something. Besides, you look a bit more muscular from all those swinging."

"Really?" Zephyr looked at his arms and smiled.

"So, have you decided?"

"Decide what?"

"Your choice of weapon, idiot. Did you forgot the main purpose of swinging weapons?"

"Oh yea, I still don't know. You see, swords are light and can be swung extremely fast but axes and hammers are more powerful in the sense of strength, however they are much slower in comparison."

"You better decide your choice of weapon if you don't want to suffer from those swinging for another week. I am going to sleep now. I need to wake up tomorrow since master going to teach me new skill." Michael covered himself with the blanket and closed his eyes.

"I guess I better rest too. Swinging weapons for 200 times makes me extremely tired. I need to rest early to regain my energy." Zephyr sighed and laid flat on the bed, staring at the ceiling as he felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier.

"Huh?" Zephyr woke up, finding himself lying on a bed of flowers. There were sounds of birds chirping and the wind gently dancing to it. He lifted his hand and felt no fatigue that had accumulated from this morning's training.

Zephyr sat up and saw an angel sitting beneath a huge tree. She was looking at him and smiling ever so slightly. Zephyr could not take his eyes off her. She was beyond pretty. The angel stood up and extended her hands to embrace Zephyr.

"Welcome, O Destined One." A gentle voice entered his mind.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Zephyr asked, the words barely escaping his mouth.

"Please be calm, O Destined One. You are safe in here."

"How am I going to feel safe without knowing where am I?"

"Please believe me. I mean no harm to you."

"Okay, I believe you. Where am I? Why are you calling me the 'Destined One'?"

"You will soon know the reason in the future. "

"I want to know now!"

"If I reveal the future to you now, the future will not be as exciting anymore. Trust me, there is so much more in store for you in this realm than you could ever imagine."

"Realm? Do you know of my problem? If so, how can I get out from here?"

"Just follow the light, my dear. The light will guide you to the place." The warm fuzzy feeling in his head disappeared and suddenly a bright light shone on Zephyr's face. Zephyr used his hand to cover his eyes and slowly adjusted his eyes to get used of the light.

Where the angel was, there was now a door leading into the tree. Zephyr took a deep breath.

"Better than being stuck here forever." He thought while walking towards the door. As he got closer, he felt as if there was a force pulling him towards the door, getting stronger as he got closer. He stopped right in front of the door. Zephyr hesitated for a short while but he decided to open the door. The moment he reached out to the door knob and slowly turned it, everything seemed like it was moving in a very slow speed. As he stepped into the room, whiteness spilled out of the open door and engulfed the whole scene. Even though Zephyr knew he was supposed to feel shocked, his body and mind did not feel uneasy but they were unusually relaxed, as if it was not the first time this had happened.

"What the heck is this?" Zephyr said. Everything in the room was stark white. The walls were white, the chairs were white, even the ceiling and floor were white. However, Zephyr paid no heed to them. The only thing that attracted his attention was right at the middle of the room, at the something that was floating in mid-air, radiating a soft blue glow. He couldn't see what it was so he decided to walk closer to get a better view.

"What the heck?" Zephyr was shocked to find out that it was a sword giving off the blue aura; a sword with the design of a dragon on the handle and with a straight and sharp blade. Zephyr's body moved on its own and his hand reached out for the sword. He just couldn't believe everything that had happened but when he held the sword in his hand, everything felt just right.

"This sword is beautiful." He felt a surge of energy coursing through his body, and the sword was the source of his strength. He grinned as he swung the sword effortlessly. Multiple rays of light came slicing through the air, gliding to wherever his heart willed them to.

Zephyr focused his strength as he prepared to swing the sword as hard as he could. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see waves of blue light rising from the ground, causing the air around him to tremble. "Hiyaa!" He shouted as he swung the sword 180 degrees horizontally. At that instant, it was as if Zephyr had sliced through the air. A bluish white arc of pure energy was generated and flew forwards, easily slicing the chair - which was a couple of metres in front of him - into half.

"Woah, this is so nice!" Zephyr was happy, overwhelmed with excitement.

"O Destined One, this sword does and does not belong to you."

"Huh?"

"You will know when the time comes."

"Who are you? Can you show yourself?" Right when Zephyr finished his sentence, the same mysterious angel appeared in front of him again. What the sword enhanced was not only Zephyr's strength, but also his vision. Zephyr noticed details on the angel that would otherwise have eluded normal human eyes. To say she had a perfect body was an underestimate. The angel had curves at all the right places and a glowing complexion that could rival the sun in terms of radiating warmth. She gave off an elegant yet gentle aura, which made Zephyr feel that she can be trusted. She slowly glided towards Zephyr; her gentle smile felt like it could lift all the burdens of the world.

"Zephyr, we finally meet."

"Who are you? You are just too perfect." Zephyr looked at the woman as she gently caressed his face.

"Dear child, I'm The Goddess Of Altea."

"You are the goddess that protects the whole of Lagendia?"

"Yes, I am."

"But how did you know my name? How did you know I'm the so called 'Destined One'?"

"Why wouldn't I know?"

"I am from another world. You shouldn't know me. It's not possible."

"I know everything. This is the mysterious power of God."

"But…But…"

"You are asking the wrong questions, my child. I have foreseen your arrival to this world a long time ago, and I expect great things from you."

"I'm just a human. I…I just simply can't help you."

"Of course you can, when the time is right, all will be revealed."

"But…"

"Be wary, my dear child. All will depend on you. Until next time." Light slowly engulfed the angel and she disappeared.

"But….What is this? What is happening?" The same light came for Zephyr and started enveloping him too. He was so shocked that he dropped the sword.

"Argh!" Zephyr sat up, rubbing his eyes and quickly looked around him. There it was the familiar ceiling, the all too small window; the blanket he laid under every night, and at last, the same old him. He was in his room, on his bed.

Was that a dream? But it felt all too real." Zephyr thought. A sharp pain entered his mind as he tried to remember what happened in the dream.

"Zep, how long you are going to stay asleep? You are going to be late if you don't wake up soon." Michael shouted.

"I'm awake, I'm awake, sheesh, stop hurting my delicate ears." Zephyr decided to put that dream aside, and cleaned himself up to welcome a brand new day. He ran to Chandler's place which was at the other side of town.

"Hey, Zephyr. You are late."

"I know." Zephyr panted and tried to catch his breath.

"So, have you decided on the weapon that you are going to use?" Chandler asked, with a serious face, staring at Zephyr with his only good eye.

"Well, the thing is…" Zephyr did not really have time to think over it last night as he believed that it would all become clear the next day, but the strange dream he had was bothering him.

"Well?" Chandler was starting to lose his patience.

"Sword!" Zephyr shouted and quickly covered his mouth.

"What the heck? I wanted to say ' I don't know'. Why did the word 'sword' come out from my mouth?" Zephyr thought.

"Sword eh, are you sure?"

Zephyr wanted to say that he was not sure but what came out from his mouth was totally opposite of what he was thinking.

"I am sure."

"So mean, you want to be a swordmaster then?"

'Yes, a swordmaster! I don't want to be a mercenary." Zephyr quickly covered his mouth again.

"What the heck is wrong with me? I don't even know the jobs of warrior. Why am I saying things that I don't know?"

"Zephyr, are you alright?"

"Huh?" Chandler's voice pulled Zephyr back to reality. Zephyr just gently nodded his head.

"I'm alright. So, since you choose sword as your weapon. I will be giving you some lessons about the sword."

"Sure do."Zephyr's smile grew wider as he finally can learn some awesome skill.

"Firstly." Zephyr's hope was being brought up when he realized that Chandler going to treat him more serious.

"Go swing your sword for 300 times per day for whole week." Chandler's words were like ice cold water poured on the passionate fire that was burning inside Zephyr's heart. Far from being refreshing, it put off the flames of passion inside Zephyr's heart until not even sparks were left.

"Erm, did I hear you wrong? 300 swings per day?"

"Yup! You said it!"

"But, why do I have to do those swings again when I have already chosen my weapon?"

"Because you need to get used to the weapon. The best warriors out there do not regard the sword as a mere weapon but as a part of their body."

"Huh?"

"Yes. If you have so much energy for asking questions, I'd advise you to save your energy to swing more."

Zephyr was dumbfounded by Chandler's reaction. 'Is this what Chandler meant by serious training?' was all in Zephyr's mind.

"What are you staring at? Want me increase it to 500 swings?"

"No, thanks!" Zephyr took the beginner's sword that Chandler had given him and ran out to the field. He stared at the sky and sighed.

'I wonder how long I going to suffer from this 'serious' training that Chandler meant." Suddenly he thought he saw a woman's face out of the corner of his eye, smiling at him gently. At that moment, he felt rejuvenated. He quickly rubbed his eyes and looked back at the sky, however it was so clear, not even clouds could be seen. Shrugging his shoulders and mumbling "weird", Zephyr started to practice swinging.


	8. The Encounter

"Hey, Zep. You are going to your training this early?" Michael asked as he saw Zephyr ran on the hall way. Zephyr stopped for awhile and turned back toward Michael. He titled his head to the side and looked at Michael and looked at the clock on the wall.

"What do you mean by 'this early'?" Zephyr stared at Michael.

"Huh?"

"It's already noon. You woke up late." Zephyr stared at Michael as Michael stared back at him.

"What?!" Michael quickly got up from the bed and ran to the washroom to clean himself.

"Why you didn't wake me up?" Michael quickly changed into his clothes as Zephyr only stared at him.

"You didn't ask me to." Zephyr shrugged his shoulder.

"I'm going to be late for the training. You know that I had training every week days!" Michael shouted as he ran pass through Zephyr.

"But today is Saturday!" Zephyr said back. Michael suddenly stopped halfway and turned back to Zephyr.

"What did you just say?"

"I said. Today. Is. Saturday. " Zephyr said out one by one slowly.

"Then why are you wearing like this?" Michael looked at Zephyr from the top of his head until his toes.

"Oh, this? I was going for extra training since Chandler told me he had something important to tell me after my training today." Suddenly a pillow hit Zephyr's face. Zephyr quickly took the pillow and stared at the one who threw at him, Michael.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I told you about this extra training since the day before yesterday and you replied with an 'Oh I see' at me. Are you already being old?"

"I just forgot about that. Sorry for throwing at you." Michael blushed as he realized what Zephyr said was the truth.

"It's okay. I am going out now. You better go and have your lunch. I wonder there's still some food left." Zephyr smiled and walked down to the dining room with Michael quickly walked behind him to catch up with him.

"Be careful with your training and don't slack around."

"Oh, I knew that. You are just like an old lady." Zephyr quickly shut the door behind him while listening to Michael yelling, "Who is an old lady? I'm not that old and I'm a guy!"

"Ah, today is a nice day!" Zephyr looked at the sky and stretched himself as he took a deep breath of a fresh air.

"Hey, Zephyr!" a young man with a head of blonde hair and bright blue eyes called out for him. Zephyr turned and smiled.

"Hey, Adrian. What bring you here?" Zephyr walked toward Adrian.

"I was going to the training and I am living in the same dorm as you." Adrian sighed.

"Oh, I just remembered it. What a silly question I just asked. Hehe." Zephyr laughed.

"So, let's go. We shouldn't let master wait for us." Adrian said as he began to walk.

"Hey, wait up! Does anyone tell you that you walk too fast?" Zephyr said as he quickly ran to Adrian. Both of them were just chatting about random things and they saw Chandler was looking at the newcomers.

"Zephyr, Adrian, what you guys doing? Taking your own sweet times to walk and enjoy the view? There's no time for you guys to do this. Come here and start your training right away!" Chandler shouted as he saw Adrian and Zephyr were walking slowly toward the training ground.

"Yes, Master!" Both of them quickly ran to the training ground and Zephyr took a sword as Adrian took a hammer.

"I thought you are going to use an axe today?" Zephyr asked as he began to swing his sword.

"I want to try a hammer for a long time." Adrian also began the swinging, but the hammer he using was heavier than Zephyr's sword.

"So you want to be the second Thor then?"

"Thor? Who's that?"

"The god of thunder. The son of the lord of Asgard. The son of Odin and brother of Loki. The founder member of Avengers." Zephyr listed it out one by one about the fact of Thor.

"Huh?" Adrian still looked at Zephyr with confused look.

"You don't know Thor?"

"Never heard about it."

"Well, then. Never mind." Zephyr continue swung his sword and left Adrian confused about the Thor that he just mentioned.

"I forgot that here is a different dimension. I was too getting used to this dimension by now." Zephyr mentally slapped himself.

"Zephyr, so you really choose sword?" Adrian asked as he was trying to break the awkward silence.

"Yup, since sword is lighter than hammer and axe. I don't want my hand to be broken before I was able to become the famous adventurer."

"Someone like Adventurer David?" Adrian stop for awhile and rested his arm.

"Adventurer David?" Zephyr looked at Adrian confusedly as he continued to swing his sword.

"Yup, a famous adventurer in Lagendia. He was pretty famous of doing a great job."

"Oh, I want to meet him!" Zephyr's eyes beamed of excitement and he began to swing his sword a bit recklessly.

"Zephyr, be careful of your sword, don't swing it at people." Adrian warned Zephyr as he trying to hide from the sword.

"Oh, sorry. I was just too exciting." Zephyr smiled sheepishly as Adrian shook his head.

"So, let's continue." Adrian took the hammer and began to swing as Zephyr was trying to control the excitement that was about to burst out from his heart and began to swing his sword. As both of them finish their training, they bought some drink at Merchant May's store.

'How is the training? I heard that Chandler is strict with his disciples." May was chatting as preparing some cold drinks for the two guys.

"Master is strict for our own sake." Adrian was enjoying the cold breeze blowing as Zephyr nodded his head.

"Is the drinks ready yet?" Zephyr asked as he laid his head on the table.

"Oh, it's ready. Here it is. Please enjoy yourself." Merchant May put down two glasses of cold drinks and quickly walked to serve other customers.

"Ahh, it's refreshing." Zephyr quickly drank the whole glass of cold drinks. He had drunk this type of cold drinks for a few months and although his friends told him about the name of the drinks, he never bothered to remember it.

"Zephyr, let's go now." Adrian put the money on the table and called out to May.

"Huh? Go where?" Zephyr looked at Adrian lazily.

"We are going to meet master. Do you remember?"

"Oh ya, master said he have something important to tell us and want us go after we rest."

"So you finally remember." Adrian sighed and walked away, with Zephyr quickly stood up and ran pass him.

"Master, we are here." Adrian said as he bowed, with Zephyr catching his breath from those running under a hot sun and realizing that running under a hot sun is not a good idea.

"Oh, good. Here, come with me. I have something to give you two." Chandler led those two into a room.

"Here you go!" Chandler threw something at Zephyr and Adrian.

"Ouch!" Zephyr can felt something hard hit on his head.

"What is this, master?" Adrian tried to sort it out one by one.

"Those are the proper clothing for a warrior." Chandler quickly checked through so that he didn't forget gave them anything.

"So it means that we can become a true warrior and no need do the training anymore?" Zephyr's eye beamed with excitement.

"Not really. You still need to come back to learn some new skills but you already can accept mission on your own and have your own adventure." Chandler said as Adrian excused himself to change into the new uniform. Adrian walked out with a striped upper shirt and a orange pants.

"What's the metallic thingy on your right hand?" Zephyr stared at Adrian's right hand and punched it with his bare hand.

"And it's hard." Zephyr complained as he shook his hand as hard as he can, trying to shake off the pain on his hand.

"This is a gauntlet. It's useful for warrior." Chandler explained.

"How is it useful?" Adrian asked.

"You will know it in the future. I am lazy to explain." Chandler sat down on a chair and stared at Zephyr.

"What's wrong, master?" Zephyr asked as he pointed himself when Chandler stared at him.

"What are you doing here? Go change into your warrior clothing."

"Yes, master! Now, I'm on my way." Zephyr quickly took all those thing and dashed to change into the new clothes that Chandler gave him.

"Master, how do I wear this? Isn't this kinda weird!" Zephyr shouted out from the changing room.

"Master, I will go help Zephyr." Adrian quickly ran to the changing room as Chandler sighed but at the same time he smiled.

"What are you doing here, Adrian? Don't try to take off my clothes. I will wear…No need for your help. Ah~!" A loud scream come from the changing room. After awhile, Adrian walked out with Zephyr followed behind him, sobbing.

"What's wrong, Zephyr? You don't like these clothes?" Chandler asked.

"No, it's nice." Zephyr still hiding his face in his palms.

"Then why are you crying?" Chandler looked at Zephyr confusedly.

'Because, because…Adrian….Adrian….Had looked at my naked body!" Zephyr shouted out the last few words.

'Hey, I was helping you to change." Adrian sighed.

"You can teach me by saying, not tearing off my clothes."

"Ok, I'm sorry. " Adrian sighed again.

"Now I can't get married." Zephyr squatted down in a corner.

"What?! You are being too dramatic." Adrian walked toward Zephyr and pulled him up.

"I am not being too dramatic." Zephyr protested.

"You guys, stop it. " Chandler said as both of them stopped talking and looked at Chandler.

"So, how do you think about your clothes?" Chandler asked as he looked at Zephyr.

"Master, this gauntlet thingy is heavy." Zephyr said as he stared at his gold gauntlet with some shiny jewels on it and his dark blue shirt with black pants.

"That thing is useful and you can build muscle."

"Okay." Zephyr tried to swing his right arm to get used to the weight of the gauntlet.

"That's all now. You guys can come back to train anytime you want." Chandler later shoved them an axe and a sword.

"Master, is this for us?" Zephyr asked as he examined the sword. It was a bit too heavy for Zephyr, and nothing special about this sword. It was dull and not shiny at all. It didn't even emitted light blue ray that the sword in his dream had. Zephyr looked at the sword, and looked back at Chandler.

"Is this really my sword?" Zephyr asked.

"Of course it is."

"But master, why it is not cool at all?" Zephyr's questioned earn him a punch on his head from Chandler.

"You idiot, you are just an amateur to sword. When you get stronger, you will able to use cooler and different type of sword." Chandler said.

"Thank you, master. Is there anything else?" Adrian holding his axe, with his hand trembling hard, couldn't believe that he had he first very own axe in his hand. Chandler walked and stood in front of those two guys, hands putting on each shoulder.

"I was an adventurer before. I know how hard the journey is. I want to say, no matter what happen, don't give up." Chandler looked at them as if they are his precious son.

"Master." Adrian and Zephyr looked at Chandler, eyes full of tears of happiness.

"If you give up, don't you dare say you are my disciples! Understand?" Chandler quickly kept his warm gaze and turned into a frightening gaze.

"Yes, master!" Zephyr and Adrian quickly stood still and saluted Chandler.

'Just get out from here already!" Chandler shouted.

"Yes, master!" Zephyr and Adrian quickly ran out.

"Goddess of Altea, please protects those guys, especially Zephyr." Chandler mumbled and turned away.

Zephyr was walking on the street happily, with one hand holding a sword and carrying his clothes in a small backpack of his

"Isn't that Clarice? I need to show her my newest outfit!" Zephyr thought as he quickly walked to Clarice.

"Clarice! Clarice!" Zephyr shouted at Clarice name while trying not to let the clothes fall onto the ground. Clarice was talking with Irine.

"I think Zephyr is calling you." Irine said with a smile on her face. Clarice quickly turned toward the direction of a soft voice. She saw Zephyr was running toward her at the other end of the bridge.

"What are you waiting for?" Irine asked again.

"Huh?" Clarice looked at Irine confusedly.

"You better go help him." Irine pointed at Zephyr who had problem to prevent his clothes from dropping on the floor.

"Okay. I got to go now. "

'Okay. Let's chat next time. By the way, Zephyr is a good looking guy. Clarice, you better take some action, if not, I may consider snatch him away from you."

"Irine." Clarice pouted.

"Haha, just joking. But you need to be careful of rival though. Zephyr is the type of guy that is popular among girls, even me, who had met many good looking adventurers, is attracted to him."Irine continued to tease Clarice. Clarice pouted and quickly went to help Zephyr.

"Hi, Clarice."

"Hi. So why are you finding me?"

'Oh ya. Clarice, look at me." Zephyr turned around to let Clarice saw what he was wearing.

'Is this…"

"This is a proper warrior outfit. "

"Oh, so Chandler had finally let you become an adventurer on your own."

'Yes, but this gauntlet is heavy." Zephyr started to complain at the heavy thing on his right arm.

"I heard it's useful in the battle so bear with it."

"Okay. I had a hard time carried this though." Zephyr showed Clarice his sword, which he was dragging along the way.

"Oh, why don't you make a sheath for the sword? So that you can carry it behind your back." Clarice suggested.

'Oh ya, a sheath. Something like a backpack for sword." Zephyr nodded his head as a sign of agreement.

"But, I am not good at making those things." Zephyr suddenly realized the main problem of his, which was he is not good at doing hand craft. He was lowering his head to think some way to solve his problem.

"Well, if you don't mind, I will make the sheath for you." Clarice suggested. Zephyr raised his head as he heard Clarice suggestion. Zephyr's eyes suddenly filled with hope and Clarice's suggestion was like a ray of light shone upon the gloomy weather in his heard.

"Of course I wouldn't mind. You can help me do this; I will leave it to you!" Zephyr threw his sword away and held Clarice's hands with excitement. Clarice couldn't pull her hands back since Zephyr was holding them tightly.

"I know how happy you are. But can you let go?" Clarice asked with a timid voice.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Sorry about that." Zephyr quickly let go of Clarice's hands. Clarice can felt a hint of disappointment inside of her heart as Zephyr let go of her hands.

"So, here you go." Zephyr picked up the sword and hand it to Clarice.

"Huh? I thought you want to measure the length of the sword, right?"

"Oh, I know the length of the sword by just looking at it. I think I better go home now." Clarice quickly turned away from Zephyr.

"Oh, okay. Be careful on your way home." Zephyr looked at the sword and sighed.

"I think I better bring you back to the dorm." Zephyr mumbled as he dragged the sword once again back to his dorm.

The next morning, Zephyr was stretching himself in the front yard while Michael was reading book.

"Mich, what are you reading?" Zephyr sat beside Michael under a shady tree.

"This? This is the book that my master gives it to me. He said it is useful for me when I'm going on a mission."

"Oh I see. My master never gives me some books."

"That's because you are a warrior and warrior prefer brawl over brain. Besides, you won't read it even though you had that type of book."

"Ehehe. Oh ya, I remember something." Zephyr quickly stood up.

"What?" Michael looked at Zephyr, who was taking a deep breath.

"I remember to meet up with Clarice. Wanna join?"

"No thanks. I will join you guys later in May's shop."

"Okay. Bye." Zephyr walked toward Clarice's home. He was greeting the villagers along his way.

"Clarice!" Zephyr shouted as he saw Clarice was walking out from the house. Zephyr quickly ran to Clarice.

"Oh, I was going to find you." Clarice smiled at Zephyr as she handed over something to Zephyr.

"Ah! I forgot to bring my sword out with me." Zephyr slapped his forehead.

"It's alright. You can bring it back and test it out.

"Okay!" Zephyr quickly took the thing and smiled at Clarice with that smile that can melt a hundred girls' heart.

"Clarice, Zephyr, there you are!" Both of them could hear someone calling for them. They turned around to find the source of the sound and saw Deckard was shouting and waving his hand at them.

"What's the matter, Deckard?" Zephyr asked while staring at Deckard who was trying to catch his breath.

"Are you alright?" Clarice asked, looking at Deckard worriedly.

"Oh, I'm fine." Deckard stood up and took a deep breath.

"So, why are you finding us in such a rush?" Zephyr asked again.

"Oh ya, there's a mission for you guys." Deckard quickly took a small letter out from his pocket.

"What kind of mission?" Clarice asked as she took the letter from Deckard.

"I am not sure but the sender of this letter mentioned that this mission must be completed by Clarice, Zephyr and Michael." Deckard explained as Clarice open the letter to read.

_Dear adventurers,_

_ I know that you are curious about this letter and why I only appoint you three for this mission. There's a report from the villagers that they saw Black Knight was in the Sleepers Temple, planning to do something bad. The attack from the dark elves and those ferocious ogres in that area had become more serious and the villagers were afraid to go there to pray their ancestors. I believe that only you three will be able to defeat the Black Knight. Don't question about who am I. I'm just a normal villager. Now, adventurers, head toward Sleepers Temple and stop Black Knight before he do something wrong that will hard the villagers._

_Your sincere,_

_The mysterious person._

"That's weird." Zephyr mumbled after Clarice finished reading the letter.

"What's weird?" Deckard asked.

"Oh, nothing. I was just talking to myself." Zephyr smiled.

"So, we three need to go and get this mission done." Clarice said as Zephyr nodded his head.

"Then, I will leave this in your hand now. I have lot of work to do." Deckard quickly walked away.

"So, when are we going to start this mission?" Zephyr asked while Clarice read back the letter all over again.

"I'm not sure. We better find Michael and discuss this with him."

"Oh, Mich said he will meet up with us in merchant May's shop."

"Then, I guess we better go now." Zephyr nodded his head and both of them quickly went to merchant May's shop. They saw Michael were sitting there, reading the one and only book, drinking his favorite drink, ice lemon tea.

"Mich!" Zephyr shouted which startled Michael, and quickly raised his head from the book.

"Zep, what took you so long?" Michael asked merchant May took order from Zephyr and Clarice.

"Oh, Deckard was giving us mission." Zephyr sat down and lied down on the table.

"Mission?" Michael raised one of his eyebrows and looked at Clarice.

"Yup, and you are involve in the mission too." Clarice handed over the letter to Michael. Michael quickly opened and read it.

"So, when are we going to do this mission?" Michael asked.

"That's why we come find you to discuss." Clarice took a sip from her drink.

"I think we need to pack our things and plan our strategy tonight." Michael suggested.

"I agree to Michael. Besides, according to this letter, it seems that Black Knight will stay in Sleepers Temple for quite a long time." Clarice nodded her head.

"Then, let's go back and prepared our stuff." Zephyr stood up and stretched himself.

"Okay, so tomorrow meet up at the north gate in the early morning?" Clarice asked before she walked away.

"No, meet up at the north gate at 4 in the morning." Michael suddenly closed the book he was reading.

"Why? I want to sleep longer." Zephyr pouted again.

"We are not sure how long will it take to Sleepers Temple. Besides, if we go when the day is still dark, we can hide our presence from the monsters. We also want to finish this mission as soon as possible so that Black Knight won't do anything harmful to the villagers." Michael explained as he began to stand up.

"I understand. See you guys later." Clarice walked away.

"Okay, I guess we will need to prepare out things and go to sleep early." Zephyr put the money on the table and called out for merchant May.

"I'm kind of excited about this mission."Zephyr said as he and Michael were walking alongside.

"Because you get to meet the infamous Black Knight?"

"Not only that. It's also because I get to defeat the Black Knight." Zephyr waved his hands around to show how excited he was.

"Don't be too sure about that. The Black Knight is a legendary criminal. There's a saying that no adventurers can defeat him."

"But we might be the first team that able to defeat Black Knight." Zephyr ran toward the dorm.

"Oh my, when he will know not everything is as easy as he thinks?" Michael mumbled while followed behind Zephyr.

"Mich! What are you dreaming? Come on! Tomorrow is a big day for us!" Zephyr shouted to get Michael's attention. Michael looked at him and sighed but still ran toward Zephyr.

When they reached their respective bed, both of them were laying on the bed, breathing heavily.

"You stupid Zep! What kind of stupid idea is that?" Michael scolded Zephyr after he finished catching his breath.

"What? I think it was a good idea. Racing back to our bed."

"But you had made us feel tired."

"Which is good because we can go to sleep instantly and no need scare of being late tomorrow?"

"Urgh, we need to pack our things."

"Oh ya, what do we need to pack anyway?"

"Our equipment, our clothes, some food." Michael listed out one by one.

"Oh, let's pack now." Zephyr sat up and jumped down from his bed. He took out the thing that Clarice gave to him and quickly put with his sword.

"Wow, it fits perfectly!" Zephyr said in amusement.

"What?" Michael only lifted his head to see what Zephyr was doing.

"This sheath. Clarice made for me. How does it look?" Zephyr quickly showed it to Michael.

"It's nice. Now you can bring your huge sword easily." Michael sat up and slowly walked to pack his things. He took out a shield and a flail.

"Oh, so that's your weapon and armor?" Zephyr asked as he made sure he didn't left anything.

"Yup, so are you ready to sleep?" Michael stood up and stretched himself, preparing to sleep.

"You bet I am." Zephyr crawled into his bed and closed his eyes after saying good night to Michael.

When Zephyr opened his eyes, it's already time for him to wake up.

"Wake up now, sleepy head." Michael said as he looked into the mirror to make sure he is neat and tidy.

"Okay." Zephyr stretched himself and went to wash himself up.

"Are you ready?" Michael asked as Zephyr began to make sure he didn't left anything one more time.

"You betcha!" Zephyr said as both of them quickly went to the north gate to meet up with Clarice. Both of them didn't see any trace of Clarice, so both of them decided to wait for her and discussed about the mission.

"Hey guys!" Both of them turned around and saw Clarice waving at them.

"Sorry for letting you guy wait for me." Clarice bowed as she apologized.

"It's alright. The main part is you arrived." Michael said as he looked at the sky.

"We better go now if we want to catch up with our schedule." Zephyr said and three of them quickly walked into the forests. After they got through the forest, and thankfully, they didn't meet any monsters, they walked into a city ruins.

"Woah, where am I ?" Zephyr asked as he looked around.

"According to the map, this is Gray Ruins." Michael said after checking through the book.

"This is the historical place of Calderock Village. I read it from book that master borrow to me long time ago. The villagers used to live in here but after the war between the light elves and humans with the monsters, here had become ruins. Villagers had moved into the new place, which is the Calderock Village that we know." Clarice explained as they walked through the ruins.

"What is that?" Zephyr suddenly saw a red cloak passing by.

"What?" Michael stopped and looked around. They are being surrounded by a thick mist. The only thing that they can saw with their bare eyes is each other.

"There!" Zephyr saw it again, a red cloak was moving toward a certain direction.

"Where?" Clarice asked again.

"There!" Zephyr pointed toward a certain direction. When Michael and Clarice looked at that direction, they saw nothing.

"Stop fooling around." Michael warned Zephyr, thought this was one of Zephyr's prank.

"No, it was there." Zephyr said once again.

"Zephyr, this is not funny." Clarice shook her head.

"There it is again." Zephyr ran toward the red cloak when he saw the red cloak again. He turned back and saw Clarice and Michael was just standing at there.

"Believe me!" Zephyr shouted but the others still standing there.

"Urgh. Fine! I go by my own!" Zephyr shouted and chased after the direction where he saw the red cloak.

"Zephyr/Zep!" Michael and Clarice shouted at the same time. They looked at each other and sighed, soon they decided to chase after Zephyr. Not for long, they found Zephyr standing in front of the gate of a certain building.

"There you are." Clarice said.

'Stop making us worry. Where are we?" Michael asked as he looked around.

"Sleepers Temple." Zephyr mumbled.

"What?" Michael asked again because he couldn't hear Zephyr well.

"Sleepers Temple. We are at the Sleepers Temple." Zephyr said with excitement.

"So, from here, we are going to have a tough battle." Clarice said with Michael nodded his head.

"But who cares. Let's go!" Zephyr ran away again.

"Zep, don't run off by your own." Michael quickly caught up to Zephyr with Clarice behind. They slowly walked and looked around them.

"I sensed something." Clarice quickly took out her bow. Zephyr and Michael also took out their weapon. Suddenly a whole group of hounds, appeared from nowhere, surrounded the trio.

"Zep, use that!" Michael said as the hounds were approaching them.

"Ah, you guys better jump. Circle Break!" Zephyr jumped up high and hit the ground with his sword, making the hounds flew up in the air.

"Now is my turn. You guys run out from here. Holy Burst!" Michael shouted as a few lightning strikes at the hounds from the sky. The hounds were wailing in pain and soon disappeared. Clarice suddenly sensed something and quickly jumped up.

"Aerial Chain Shot!" Clarice said as she quickly shot the ogre and a few goblins that were trying to sneak behind them.

"Thanks, Clarice." Zephyr smiled and three of them quickly continued their mission. They met up a lot of monsters and they managed to defeat the monsters one by one.

"Zep, run!" Michael shouted as a troll was rolling toward Zephyr. Zephyr was too late to dodge and he was directly hit by the troll.

"Urgh." Zephyr stood up and quickly attack the troll. The troll soon grabbed Zephyr's hand, wanting to bite Zephyr into pieces.

"Counterslash." Zephyr mumbled as he quickly drew his sword and cut through the troll. The troll quickly let go of Zephyr and retreated a few step.

"Guided Missiles." Clarice mumbled as she shot 8 arrows at once toward the troll. The troll shouted and soon fell down to the ground.

"Phew, I never knew the monsters were so aggressive." Zephyr stood up and rubbed his chest.

"Are you hurt?" Clarice asked with Zephyr nodded his head. Michael walked upon him.

"With the guidance of Goddess of Altea, heal." Michael mumbled and soon a light blue ray shone upon Zephyr. Zephyr felt much better and hugged Michael as a token of thanks. Three of them continued to wander into the temple.

"Guys, I think, we are at the center of the temple." Zephyr said as three of them standing in front of a giant building.

"I think Zep is right." Michael was staring at the building in amusement.

"Someone coming. Hide." Clarice said as three of them quickly hide behind the wall, hoping the newcomer wouldn't discover them hiding in such lousy place. Three of them staring at the entrance of the building. Suddenly a tall man, with long black hair, wearing a black suit was walking toward the building.

"Urgh!" Michael suffered from a massive headache all of a sudden. He curled up into a ball and trying to ignore the pain.

"Michael, are you alright?" Clarice asked in a slow voice of hers. Michael only able to waved his hand, trying to tell Clarice that he is alright. Zephyr was just staring at the people; he knew it well that tall man was Black Knight. He knew this is a great opportunity to defeat the Black Knight, but he just couldn't move. Michael was still clutching to his head. He raised his head up, only saw white colour, no Zephyr, no Clarice, only white and Black Knight's face.

"Michael, are you alright?" Clarice asked again. Zephyr stood up suddenly.

"Zephyr!" Clarice tried to warn Zephyr. Zephyr ignored Clarice and walked toward Black Knight.

"We…gotta….follow that…idiot..Urgh!" Michael was hitting his hand to the wall, trying to forget the massive pain of his head.

"But how?" Clarice was worrying. Michael suddenly mumbled a few words and he stood up.

"I'm all okay. Let's go before that idiot get himself killed." Michael and Clarice quickly follow Zephyr. Zephyr was already standing in front of a huge machine. He knew very well that he had to run away before Black Knight spotted him, but he just couldn't move. It's just like there was a certain force that pulled Zephyr to the Black Knight.

The Black Knight sensed the presence of Zephyr and turned around.

"What are you doing here?" The low voice of the Black Knight had made Zephyr sweated a lot. Zephyr slowly pulled out the sword and ready to charge toward the Black Knight if the Black Knight did something harmful to him. The Black Knight raised one of his eyebrows and looked at Zephyr, he swung his hand.

"Argh!" Clarice and Michael were being lifted up and threw to the ground. Zephyr hands were clutching to the hilt of the sword. The Black Knight swung his hand again; Michael and Clarice were being thrown out from the building and landed on a hard ground.

"Argh!" Zephyr shouted and charged toward Black Knight. The Black Knight was staring at him as he charged toward the Black Knight. When Zephyr lifted his sword and about to strike, Black Knight swung his hand. Zephyr can felt a strong force was pushing him backward and this strong force had caused an injury. Zephyr stood up and ran toward the Black Knight again, and so, Black Knight swung his hand again. These had continued for several times, until Zephyr wasn't able to run anymore. He supported himself with his sword, and looked at Black Knight. He looked back at his friends, who were lying unconsciously on the ground. He was preparing want to fight, but suddenly a familiar red cloak with silver long hair appeared in front of him.

"You had done a great work but it's time for you to give up and leave it to the professionals." The owner of the read cloak said.


	9. Velskud and Argenta

"You had done a great work but it's time for you to give up and leave it to the professionals." The owner of the read cloak said. Zephyr only managed to lift his head up and looked at the owner.

"Argenta, it's been awhile." The Black Knight walked toward Argenta, smile appeared on his face as he opened his arms to welcome owner of the red cloak, Argenta.

"Don't come near me, Velskud." Argenta growled as she stared at the Black Knight.

"So, Black Knight's name is Velskud." Zephyr thought. Black Knight, also known as Velskud walked and sneered.

"Argenta, that's not a nice way to treat an old friend." Velskud stopped and stared at Argenta. Zephyr looked around and saw Clarice and Michael still lying there unconsciously. He soon lied back on the ground as he can felt the pain from his chest was unbearable.

"You are not my friend. I prefer you are my enemy." A smirk appeared on Argenta's face.

"I guess this won't be a warm welcome scene of two long lost friends?" Velskud raised one of his eyebrows.

"I guess not." Argenta suddenly charged toward Velskud and kicked him with a few swift kicks. She knew Velskud was startled by this sudden attack although he didn't show it on his face. Velskud managed to dodge Argenta's attack and soon repaid Argenta by landing a few strong and heavy punched on Argenta. Argenta wasn't fast enough to dodge Velskud's attack and soon she felt a strong pain from her stomach. She soon realized that Velskud had managed to land a heavy punch on her stomach and that punch of his had pushed her a few feet away from Velskud. Argenta trying to balance herself by forcing herself to stand straight but unfortunately for her, the punch that landed on her stomach was too strong for her to bear with it. Velskud appeared in front of Argenta.

"It's such a shame and sad for a sudden depart since we only met for a few minutes." Velskud said as his hand was aiming at Argenta's face and soon a dark force were formed around Velskud's arm and soon formed a ball of dark energy on his hand.

"I must move. I can't die here." Argenta thought as she was trying to move and staring at Velskud's hand at the same time.

"It seems that it's a goodbye now." Velskud smiled as the dark energy had finally formed a spherical shape on his palm.

"Argh!" A sudden shout had startled Velskud and he suddenly can felt his body was being pushed by a strong force. Velskud quickly balanced himself and stared at the figure that pushed him just now. Argenta was staring at the young guy in front of him. No matter how she didn't want to admit it, this guy with black hair in front of her had save her.

Zephyr was now clutching at his chest and trying to stand up by using his sword to support himself.

"I won't let you hurt her." Zephyr said as he finally able to stand up.

"That's why I hate brats." Velskud said as he saw Zephyr. Suddenly he was shock as he saw there was a young version of him, staring at him. He quickly shook his head and looked back, what he saw was the young man with black short hair.

"Impossible. How can you, resemble …..?" The last few words were too soft for anyone to hear. Zephyr took his sword and began to charge toward Velskud. Velskud swung his hand again, and the tragedy happened once again. Zephyr was being thrown far away and landed on the ground. Zephyr groaned in pain as he tried to bear with the pain.

"Is it okay for you to care about him?" Argenta suddenly appeared behind Velskud and began to kick Velskud. Velskud quickly jumped away and soon engaged in a fight with Argenta. Both of them were trying to kick each other's weak point. Soon both of them landed and looked at each other and remained the same distance between them.

"You didn't change at all, Argenta." Velskud's voice suddenly appeared behind Argenta.

"When did you..?" Before Argenta could finish her sentence, Velskud already kicked her back and sent her directly to the wall. Her back hit the wall and soon fell on to the ground.

"You really never change at all. This is the one last time for you to say anything." Velskud walked slowly toward Argenta, and wiped off the blood stained at the corner of his mouth.

"Is there anything you want to say?" Velskud asked as the dark force began to form spherical shape once again.

"You never change, you arrogant man." Argenta lowered her head.

"Are you sure that is a proper thing to say before you die? Well, I can't really say it's proper or not." Velskud shrugged his shoulders. Before he could kill Argenta, he felt a slight pain from his back. He quickly turned back and punched whoever was behind him. He saw the black hair guys again, landing few feet away from him.

"How could you stand up, after the first attack?" Velskud stared at Zephyr in amusement.

"Heh, I said it before, right? I will never let you hurt her." Zephyr stood up but soon kneeled down and began to cough out some blood.

"Impossible. You are amazing." Velskud landed a strong hit on Argenta first and soon walked toward Zephyr. Zephyr was supporting himself with his hands and legs, coughing out blood. He never knew Velskud, aka The Black Knight was such a strong enemy.

"Tell me, young one. What's your name?" Velskud grabbed Zephyr's face and forced Zephyr looked at him.

"I..am..Zephyr." Zephyr said as Velskud let go of his face.

"It's glad to know your name." Velskud said but soon he saw the young him once again. He shook his head slightly. He can felt a strong intention of attack and soon he blocked Zephyr's sword once again. Zephyr was staring at Velskud with a pair of black eyes that full of passion and determination of protect his friends, which remind Velskud of his young self. He smiled and soon sent Zephyr to his friends' side. Zephyr landed on the solid grounds, only god knows how many times he had landed on the ground this hard.

"Move, body! Move!" Zephyr shouted in his mind but his body didn't want to follow his mind's order. He can hear the footsteps and he knew Velskud was walking toward him. Velskud stopped and squatted down.

"I will let you live for now. Hope we can meet next time." Velskud whispered into Zephyr's ear and walked away from Sleepers Temple. He stopped and looked back at the machine for awhile.

"Just a little more. I just need a little more time." Velskud mumbled and soon turned away and disappeared into a thick fog that appeared from nowhere.

"It hurt." Zephyr could only say this as he felt his vision turned from colour to black and white.

"Nngh." A sudden light had shine right through his eyes as he wanted to open his eyes. He tried to use his hands to protect his eyes from the sudden sunlight but he realized that a sharp pain came from his hands.

"He is awake!" He can hear a gentle and cheerful voice coming from his side. He can hear a sign of relieve and exhausted in the cheerful voice.

"Are you sure, Clarice?" A gentle and calm voice but have a hint of excitement in it can be heard by him. He tried to move his finger, that's the least he could do.

'Yes, master. I'm sure." The cheerful voice answered. He slowly opened his eyes as trying to get used to the sudden light. He saw an elf, staring at him.

"Clarice?" He said as he tried to sit up.

"Stop, Zephyr. Don't push yourself." Clarice quickly helped Zephyr to sit up.

"Thank goodness. I am going to call Germaine and Michael." Adelynn smiled and quickly walked out from the room.

"Urgh. What happen?" Zephyr asked as he can easily knew that Clarice hadn't been sleep well for many days since she had bloodshot eyes. Zephyr slightly raised his hand and endured the pain and gentle touched Clarice's face. Clarice was staring at Zephyr, couldn't move an inch.

"Germaine, Michael. Zephyr is here." Zephyr quickly put his hand down as he heard Adelynn's voice but his sudden movement had caused a great pain for him.

"You finally awake." Michael sighed as Germaine sat down beside the bed and looked at Zephyr.

"It seems that you are fine now. Let me check you up." Germaine smiled as Clarice and Adelynn walked out from the room. As Germaine slowly revealed Zephyr's wound, Zephyr felt a slight pain when Germaine touched his wounds.

"It's not as bad as five days ago. Please rest and eat the medicine I had prepared for you then you will be well in no time. Now, please excuse me." Germaine stood up and walked out from the room.

"What?! Five days?!" Zephyr was shocked, knowing he had slept for five days.

"Yup. Clarice and Adelynn take turn to take care of you. A lot of our friends had come too." Michael said as he slowly bandaged Zephyr's wound.

"What happen?"

"Well, you see Zep. This happened." Michael said as he began to think back what happened five days ago.

_**-FLASHBACK- (FIVE DAYS AGO)**_

"_Urgh. What happen?" Michael opened his eyes and sat up slowly as he can felt pain coming from his back but he was able to endure the pain. He looked around him and found Clarice was lying beside him._

"_Clarice, wake up!" Michael tried to wake Clarice up and looked around him. He could only saw a red cloak woman with silver hair leaning against the wall and looked at them._

"_Ngnh." Clarice slowly opened her eyes and stared at Michael._

"_Clarice wake up, Black Knight had disappeared." Michael said as he couldn't find any sign of Black Knight. Clarice sat up quickly and looked around her._

"_No. It can't be. This means we fail our mission." Clarice stood up but soon kneeled down due to the pain coming from her leg. _

"_Yes, but we are being stared by a woman." Michael whispered and examined Clarice ankle._

"_I saw her just now." _

"_Try to avoid eye contact with her. You had twisted your ankle. Maybe because of that fall that knocks both of us out." Michael sighed. Suddenly, both of them heard footsteps were getting louder._

"_She is walking toward us." Clarice said as Michael pretended he didn't hear Clarice. Soon the footsteps stopped. Michael glanced and saw a pair of dark red boots. He knew the woman was standing beside them._

"_You guys better go check on your other friend." The woman said and left Michael and Clarice. _

"_Oh, where's Zephyr?" Clarice suddenly remembered and looked around her. She couldn't find Zephyr._

"_I will go around and see." Michael stood up and walked around. Soon, he saw Zephyr lying on the ground. _

"_Zep! Zep!" Michael ran toward Zephyr and his face expression turned from happy to shock and to scare as he saw Zephyr was lying at there lifelessly. Michael shook Zephyr as hard as he could._

"_Zep. Come on! It's not funny! Stop it and wake up!" Michael shouted at Zephyr but Zephyr was remaining the same pose, lying on the ground._

"_What's wrong, Michael?" Clarice asked as she heard Michael's voice._

'_No! NO!" Michael kneeled down as he trying to heal Zephyr but none of his magic work._

"_NO! COME ON!" Michael was shouting as he tried again to heal Zephyr. Zephyr still lied at there, didn't even had the sign of recovering. Michael slumped down on the ground._

"_No." Tears escaped from Michael's eyes. The sky began to rain heavily as if it was mourning for Zephyr._

"_Michael, what's wrong?" Clarice walked toward Michael by dragging one of her legs. She saw Zephyr lying there lifelessly and Michael was sitting on the ground, staring at Zephyr. She was panicked but soon calmed herself down and her right hand reached to the bag behind her. She took the thing out when she touched it and realized it was a signal flare._

"_You only can use this during emergency. Light this babe up and we will go save you. This babe is useful even in rainy days. Just pull this thing."Clarice remembered what Hubert told her before she left to find Zephyr and Michael, because of meeting up with Hubert, she was late for the first time. She quickly found the string._

"_Where is that string? Michael, can you help me?" Clarice turned at Michael and saw no response from Michael. Michael was sitting at there, staring on the ground._

"_I think I better find the string myself." Clarice sighed and started to examine the signal flare. She finally found the string and pulled it. Clarice can felt a force pushing her backward but still hold onto the signal flare tightly A ball of light coming out from the signal flare flied up to the sky and exploded, producing a lot of different colour of smoke and loud sounds._

"_Now we only can pray." Clarice looked at Michael, who hit the ground with his fist. The rescue team and Adelynn were fast enough to reach Sleepers Temple and save three of them. Clarice was gently patted Michael's back to comfort Michael as Adelynn quickly helped Clarice to walk. Adelynn only managed to gasp when she saw Zephyr's condition. Michael only able to walk with others, eyes gazing at Zephyr, and didn't even speak a word on the way back to village._

_When they reached village, Germaine quickly attend to Zephyr's wound. Germaine's face expression was unreadable when he saw Zephyr's wound. He asked everyone to be out from the room but insisted Michael to be with him. _

_After a lot of hard work, Germaine sighed in relieve. Zephyr was saved for now. Germaine looked at Michael._

"_Don't blame yourself. You haven't master this type of heal." Germaine smiled and walked out from the room. Michael could only stared at Zephyr, who was lying on the bed. For that moment, he began to miss the lively and troublesome Zephyr._

_After that, Clarice and Adelynn were taking turn to take care of Zephyr. Clarice insisted of taking care of Zephyr although she hadn't recovered from her wound. Both elves didn't dare to close their eyes, scared that Zephyr might wake up. _

_**-FLASHBACK END-**_

"So that's what happen." Michael sighed and looked at Zephyr. He was glad that his friend was alright and still breathing.

"Oh ya, who's the woman?" Michael asked.

"Her name is Argenta. And I realized that Black Knight's name is Velskud." Zephyr said with excitement.

"Stop kidding. Black Knight is legendary criminal." Michael said.

"But that's what I heard from their conversation." Zephyr argued with Michael.

"It's impossible. Velskud was one of the Six Heroes that protect people from the attack of the monster 50 years ago. If he is still alive, he might have been an old man. Black Knight is about 30 years old, so its impossible that Black Knight is Velskud." Michael explained.

"How about Argenta?" Zephyr tried to make Michael believed him.

"It's impossible. Oh ya, here it is." Michael found a note and gave to Zephyr.

"Argenta, died while protecting villagers against the leader of dark elves." Zephyr read out and dropped the note.

"But its impossible. I saw and heard them myself."

"Zep, that might be your hallucination."

"But!" Zephyr was still trying to tell Michael that he was not hallucinating.

"No but! Now rest, Zep. Master said you need a lot of rest." Michael sighed as he helped Zephyr lied down on the bed. He turned around to look at Zephyr before walking out from the room.

"No, it can't be." Zephyr mumbled. He soon drifted to his dreamland and began to sleep soundly. A red cloak woman was opening the window. She was trying to be as quiet as she could so that she wouldn't want to wake the black hair guy that was sleeping soundly.

"Huh?" Zephyr suddenly heard some noise and woke up. He tried to sit up and looked at the source of the noise. He still managed to sit up by himself as he can felt the pain wasn't as serious as before. He turned at the direction of the noise and saw a red cloak woman was standing at the window and looking at him.

"Argenta." Zephyr mumbled. Argenta was shocked that Zephyr woke up and looked at her and at that moment, she lost her balance. She trying to grabbed the edge of the window but failed. She saw the place she going to land on, a young man was looking at her, trying to save her despite of the pain of his body.

Zephyr was trying to move his body to save the angel that he saw. When he was trying to get out from the bed, the angel had landed on his bed and both of them are in awkward position. Argenta's face and Zephyr's face were only a few centimeters apart. Yellow eyes stared at black eyes. Zephyr quickly shifted his gaze as he can felt his cheeks were burning. Argenta looked at Zephyr with a puzzled look on her face.

"Zephyr, are you awake? I had brought some food for you to eat." Clarice opened the door and saw Argenta was facing Zephyr who was lying on the bed, it as if Argenta pushed Zephyr down.

"Sorry to interrupt." Clarice blushed.

"Clarice." Zephyr trying to explain.

"You guys can continue what you doing." Clarice quickly closed the door and breathed heavily.

"Listen to me." Zephyr sighed.

"Who is that woman? She is pretty." Clarice calmed down and her brain interpreted what just happened. She was flustered and her face was as red as a tomato.

'What is Zephyr thinking? I need to tell master." Clarice quickly went to find Adelynn. When Clarice finding Adelynn, Argenta and Zephyr was still looking at each other.

"Excuse me." Zephyr said politely. Argenta realized she was in a awkward position. She quickly shifted aside and sat beside Zephyr.

"You are Argenta, right?" Zephyr asked.

"Of course, you idiot. You had heard Velskud say it." Argenta rolled her eyes at Zephyr.

"I was just confirming. Are you dead?" Zephyr asked again.

"Are you an idiot? Of course I'm not dead!" Argenta looked at Zephyr as if Zephyr was the dumbest person she ever met.

"But the book said…" Zephyr lowered his head.

"The book said I died, while fighting Elena. I was just hiding myself for awhile. Are all human being stupid?" Argenta rolled her eyes again.

"That Black Knight is Velskud, right?"

"Yes."

"Is he the one…?"

"Yes, he is one of the six heroes that save human being 50 years go." Argenta began to feel impatient of Zephyr's question.

"But he should be old." Zephyr looked at Argenta confusedly.

"The six heroes are not ordinary human. Velskud has his own way to remain how he looks."

"I feel that Velskud isn't a bad person." Zephyr mumbled in a soft voice but being heard by Argenta.

"I warned you, no matter what, don't go fight Velskud or don't involve yourself in this mess. You are still not strong enough to defeat Velskud." Argenta said with a strict tone.

"But I…."

"Don't involve yourself. This is for your own sake. Velskud isn't the type of person that is easy to defeat. He is…. Special." Argenta paused for a moment. Zephyr only nodded his head.

On the other hand, Clarice finally found Adelynn, who was watering the flowers.

"Master!" Clarice shouted.

"What's wrong?" Adelynn asked as she sang to the flowers. Clarice was flustered as she trying to compose what she wanted to say. But when she finally calmed down, she felt something not right.

"Wait, isn't this kind of embarrassing to tell master. I better don't tell master." Clarice shook her head.

"Is there anything I can help you?" Adelynn asked once again. Clarice quickly shook her head and ran away.

For Zephyr, he wasn't having any nice and enjoyed moment like he planned to. Argenta was now looking at his wound and nodded her head.

"What's wrong?" Zephyr asked.

"You are weird."

"Huh?" Zephyr was confused and looked at Argenta.

"No human can survive after all those attacks from Velskud. You…survived." Argenta looked at Zephyr's naked upper body and his wounds.

"Because I am strong." Zephyr smiled.

"No, you are not. Its just that…."

"Huh?"

"Nothing much!" Argenta waved her hand. Zephyr shrugged his shoulders.

"Come one, let me help you bandaged your wounds." Argenta stood up and walked toward Zephyr, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Thanks." Zephyr blushed again. Suddenly, someone knock on the door.

"Zep, I now going into your room." Michael opened the door and saw Argenta was touching at Zephyr's upper body which was naked.

"Zephyr! What had you done?" Michael shouted and walked toward Zephyr.

"Wait, l-listen to me!" Zephyr trying to explain.

"Listen to you? For what? For showing off how you bring a pretty woman back home?" Michael was angry.

"Mich, listen to me." Zephyr was trying to explain once again. Clarice heard the noise coming out from Zephyr's room. She quickly walked toward Zephyr's room and found out the door was open.

"Shut up!" Argenta said it in a strict tone which successfully stopped the commotion between Zephyr and Michael.

"You, sit down." Argenta pointed Michael. Michael quickly sat down on the chair.

"You, I saw you. Come in and sit." Argenta called out for Clarice right before Clarice can ran away. Clarice lowered her head and quickly walked into the room and sat beside Michael.

"You, explain to them." Argenta pointed at Zephyr. Zephyr nodded his head and turned his head toward his two friends mechanically.

"Well, you see. This is Argenta." Zephyr introduced. There's an awkward silence between all of them.

"WHAT?! ARGENTA!" Michael and Clarice said at the same time, looking unbelievably.

"You gotta be kidding me." Michael still didn't want to believe Zephyr.

"I'm Argenta." Argenta only glanced at Michael.

"But I thought…" Clarice said.

"I am dead?" Argenta continued Clarice's question with Clarice nodded her head.

"Oh please, I was just hiding myself. " Argenta rolled her eyes again. Zephyr lost count on how many times had Argenta rolled her eyes.

"It's still hard to believe." Michael slumped down and stared at Zephyr.

"I was telling you the truth all these time!" Zephyr said and gave Michael 'I told you so' look.

"You three, don't tell other people about my existence." Argenta warned.

"Why?" Zephyr asked.

"It's none of your business. I got to go now. See you guys next time." Argenta jumped toward the window and soon disappeared from the trio's sight.

"Argenta." Michael and Zephyr said in unison.

"Is so awesome." Michael said.

"Is so pretty." Zephyr said. Michael rolled his eyes at Zephyr.

"Is that the only thing you could think of?" Michael asked.

"Well, I guess."

"You little," Clarice quickly stop Michael before Michael wanted to hit Zephyr.

" Stop it, and let Zephyr rest." Clarice said.

'Yes, Clarice is right. Let me rest." Zephyr said with a smile on his face.

"You little…You going to pay for this one day." Michael walked out from the room.

"Please take your rest. I will bring your dinner to you later. Bye" Clarice smiled gently as she closed the door.

"Oh joy, they forgot to help me lied back down. I guess I need to do it myself." Zephyr tried to endure with the pain and shifted his body to a more comfortable expression for him to lie on the bed. He stared at the ceiling.

"Argenta, Velskud. I got a feeling that there is a huge and gull of challenging adventure waiting for me." Zephyr smiled and closed his eyes. He soon fell asleep .


End file.
